Posted 4 years ago on June 26, 2013, 10:30 p.m. EST by gnomunny
(6819)
from St Louis, MO
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

This post was prompted in part by a recent forum visitor asking for hard evidence of the dangers of GM crops, claiming he had looked and could find none (apparently he didn't look too hard). Said visitor, a surgeon, wanted references that DIDN'T quote the Seralini or Pusztai studies, both of which he claimed had been refuted and had not been duplicated since. So I figured the forum could use this post to link to when the question arises in the future. Many of these links have been posted previously by others. Criticisms and counter-arguments encouraged. Additional links, pro or con, strongly encouraged.

In 1992, following a closed-door meeting with top officials of Monsanto Corporation, George H.W. Bush gave the commercial release of GMO seeds the green light and mandated no government safety tests before release. He decreed that GMO seeds were to be permitted in the United States with not one single independent precautionary government test to determine if they were safe for human or animal consumption. It became known as the Doctrine of Substantial Equivalence.

To say that Monsanto & Co. have controlled the dialog for the past two decades is an understatement. Farmers, by law, are prevented from testing or have tested product they purchase from the companies. Internal studies, that claim no discernible risks, are off limits to outside review. Careers have been ruined for scientists (Dr. Pusztai) that dare speak of potential dangers before their words have been properly vetted for public, ah, consumption. From falsifying test results to fast-tracking ex-Monsanto employees onto the editorial boards of major publications to spending millions concocting phony trade journals and pro-GMO blogs. It's no stretch to extrapolate the comment made in 2007 by biotechnologist Dr. Elvira Dommisse (who worked on the early stages of Crop and Food's GM experiments in New Zealand) to the entire industry:

"New Zealand (BigAg) has invested quite heavily in it. As a scientist (consortium of biotech corporations), once you narrow down into (incorporate into your business model) GE your skills (profits) are very much in that area, you can't just say, 'I don't like this area any more, I'll zip over to plant breeding (anything less profitable) instead'.

"You have to try to push it - 'we have got this GE stuff, what are we going to do with it now? We have to keep getting our salaries (profits) for the next 10 years (forever), get funding (market share) that will keep this project going'. If you can get a 10-year bloc of funding (food monopoly), you are home and hosed."

Independent Science News: How the Science Media Failed the IAASTD -- The IAASTD was a study involving 400 scientists from 61 countries. It's interesting to note that out of the 61 countries involved in this study, only three disapproved of the report's summary (Australia, Canada and the US) and that only two corporations, Monsanto and Syngenta, resigned in protest.

former ambassador to France, Craig Stapleton, advised Washington to launch a military-style trade war against any European Union country that opposed genetically modified (GM) crops.

"Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits. The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory," he wrote. Stapleton was reacting to efforts by France to ban a Monsanto GM corn variety. He specifically asked Washington to punish the EU countries that did not support the use of GM crops.

"Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices."

An embassy cable from 2009 written by a diplomat on behalf of the ambassador to Spain directly cites meetings with Monsanto executives, showing that US diplomats were taking orders directly from GM companies :

From which : ''In Spain, agricultural factions against agricultural biotechnology include the environmental side of MARM and organic farmers. Increasingly, consumers are also expressing negative attitudes toward genetically modified crops. On April 18th, the newspaper "El Pas" conducted a survey on whether or not GM food should be prohibited. The following results were obtained after a one month period: 85% voted "Yes, they can be dangerous" and 15% voted "No, they are absolutely safe".

Also : ''Post also requests USG support for a non-USG science fellow to meet with influential Spanish interlocutors on this issue and assistance with developing an agricultural biotechnology action plan for Spain. Post would also welcome any comments from other posts concerning the anti-GMO campaign.''

Monsanto's director for biotechnology for Spain and Portugal briefed embassy officials about the region, complaining that "Spain is increasingly becoming a target of anti-biotechnology forces within Europe. If Spain falls, the rest of Europe will follow."

In a random insult thrown into the cable, the ambassador says : "Within the agriculture sector, only left-wing farmers' unions have negative opinions of GMOs." and reveals the level of pro-corporate prejudice !!

Monsanto is probably The Biggest non-bank, corporate threat to The Global 99%, so thanx for this 'gno'.

And I knew you wouldn't disappoint since this is one of a number of subjects I know are high on your list of priorities. I'm heartened that Europe is taking a step back and assessing the true implications of this dangerous technology. This was a step in the right direction:

"As we have pointed out in the past, EFSA hostility towards the Seralini team was quite inevitable. There was no way that EFSA could have contemplated anything other than shooting the messenger, since to admit to any merit in the Seralini study would have been to admit to serious shortcomings in the initial EFSA assessment of NK603 and to major failings in the EU assessment of Roundup herbicide as well. EFSA therefore decided to be judge, jury and executioner, and to align itself with the GM industry spokesmen in seeking to bury the Seralini study and to discredit its authors. So they have placed their trust in the questionable science of a corporate giant (Monsanto) and in a dossier designed to obtain a GMO consent leading to commercial gain -- and have effectively sought to destroy a piece of peer-reviewed research from an academic team with nothing commercial to gain from either the acceptance or the rejection of GM crops and foods. In the process, they have shown a total lack of respect for fellow scientists, seeking to question their integrity and their scientific competence. That is not how science should be conducted.

But then, this is not science. This is all about political expediency. And those involved, at least at the EFSA end, do not deserve to be called scientists. They are technocrats and bureaucrats with their own careers to protect, come hell or high water. And, as far as they are concerned, to hell with the health of the people of Europe."

Nice 'gno' & your comment was +2 a few minutes ago when I clicked on it and twinkled it. However now refreshing it, I see the silent, cowardly, corporate shills are - as ever - here, doing their masters' bidding for their '30 Pieces of Silver' !!! Fck 'em !! Thanx for your terrific forum-post resource and Solidarity @ U !

30 pieces of silver indeed! In fact, as DK can attest, this thread has been under a concerted attack since this morning. I don't think I've seen a thread come under such an assault in a long time, if ever. It's quite telling. And I don't think it's coming from any of our regulars, since I think we're all pretty much on the same page as far as Monsanto is concerned. But what's the point, really? This thread is here to stay.

Thanks for the links, which I'm about to click on as we speak. Keep 'em coming!

Bravo, Jordan Maxwell: The bottom line is that the government is getting what they ordered. They do not want your children to be educated. They do not want you to think too much. That is why our country and our world has become so proliferated with entertainments, mass media, television shows, amusement parks, drugs, alcohol, and every kind of entertainment to keep the human mind entertained so that you don't get in the way of important people by doing too much thinking. You better wake up and understand that there are people who are guiding your life and you don't even know it.

In addition Shadz posted something in Reference to Robert Higgs(?) I might have the name wrong. Follow the money on failed policies... and by the way there are "No Failed Policies" since the PTB will fix programs that have problems. Take the Immigration from Mexico... It is not a failed policy that people cross the border from Mexico. This is what Congress intends. The policy is doing what congress wants.

This is true for all American Laws that are not Enforced, Funded, Staffed, given Resources, or given Authority. and probably this is the basis for investigation into Accounting Scandals and the poor Performance of Independence of Independent Accounting Firms ... which BTW also show up in Wikipedia under Accounting Scandals

Those are both excellent links from shadz, as is his Truthout article "Mankind - Death by Corporation, which I just finished reading in your comment on the other thread. "No failed policies." How true. It seems like we've been kept in the dark for a long time now, about a multitude of issues that are only now coming to light. Thank God for the Internet, because without it, we'd still be clueless.

Now the true challenge is getting enough people informed and involved before it's too late, if it isn't already. Thanks, MA, for helping to spread the light.

I just started watching 'In Our Backyard' a couple minutes ago. In my case, it's literally "in my backyard." I've been to Sauget countless times; worked over there, partied there, delivered there as a delivery driver. Even engaged in some 'unmentionables' over there. Little did I know at the time about the story behind it. In fact, I'd never heard of the Monsanto connection except for the Krummrich plant, which I've made many deliveries to in the past.

Yes, I have to get back to "In our Backyard", I had stopped playing it. There are a lot of links left to check out. Lots of work. I'm thinking there are many Sauget towns. I heard many Military Bases leach toxic chemicals. Recently there is something about McClellan AFB or Army Camp which I think is in Alabama.

There is a guy I met last week. I think he said he got Organ Cancer after 20 years working in Aluminum Industry. He wears some kind of sling or mesh. I guess maybe they took part of his colon. But he says no one will tell him how he got cancer.

Hopefully you are past the danger at this time in your life.

Long ago they learned to keep their mouth shut about chemicals used in the military. And maybe Industry learned this even before the military. Well Asbestos, Lead Additives, Cigarettes, Thalidium, Baby Formula, Lead paint, Pesticides.... it is all Corporate History.

Perhaps we need a class in K-12 on Corporate History. There is an Idea.

Yeah, there are undoubtedly many, many Sauget-type towns around the country. And there are a couple of military bases across the river a little east of Sauget as well. I wonder what they do with their toxic waste?

That's pretty depressing about aluminum. For decades we were told it was harmless to our health and look how many aluminum pots and pans were used for cooking for decades. I grew up with mom using aluminum for pretty much all her cooking. In fact, I just got rid of them about three or four years ago and switched to steel. Time will tell whether it affected my health, I guess.

Kid definitely need to learn some of this stuff in school but as you know, that sort of thing will never fly with the public school system. That is a good idea. I'm becoming a firm believer in home-schooling because of how messed up the school system is nowadays. It was bad when we were kids but it's a lot worse now, it seems.

I think Ammo Production and Weapons Production are the problem... I guess I am uneducated about what happens on Military bases. Turns out the US Military has been destroying some of the chemical weapons in it's stock piles over the last 10 years or so. I guess they burn the materials at a high temperature.

Sort of like Nuclear Waste, if you had chemical weapons stored locally or destroyed on site locally... you would have heard about it in the last 10 years as I saw some community protests connected to the destruction of chemical weapons.

Maybe the depleted uranium is the one that people missed along with the Agent Orange... and whatever else might have be sprayed or listed as a industrial material.

I really don't know anything about what happens on military bases either. I wonder how toxic it is to burn some of that stuff. I imagine it's pretty high and how much is getting into the environment? The problem with an overload of toxic substances being produced, stored, spilled, dumped, etc. certainly isn't confined to Monsanto and DuPont. The picture is really much bigger than just them.

True. We all see a small picture. The picture is kind of infinity. We see this small piece and always the picture is bigger. The corruption or pollution is always bigger. The impact on health is always bigger.

Spreading the knowledge is a vital necessity. Frankly, I'm amazed there hasn't been more web censorship and considering the power and resources available to TPTB, there must be good reasons. I'm sure one reason is that's it's important to their intelligence gathering activities. This site for instance has supplied a wealth of profiling information to them, especially for someone like me that leaves very little in the way of a paper trail.

It's also good to see people involved in trying to develop an alternative to the corporate-owned web. Here's hoping there IS success in those attempts.

My focus at the moment is on truth in labelling on GMOs. It's so easy to become impotent in the face of two many dramas, so I'm just working on one thing at a time. I'm managing to turn gay marriage "debates" into food health discussions. So much obfuscation happening in the media.

''Forbes Magazine gave Monsanto its "Company of the Year Award" in 2009. Perhaps it is no surprise that readers of 'Natural News' overwhelming awarded Monsanto a slightly different award, "World's Most Evil Corporation." What has Monsanto done to achieve this lofty perch? None other than seek to monopolize the world's food supply with expensive genetically modified (GM) seeds that have to be purchased each year and require expensive and toxic pesticides, which Monsanto also happens to produce. It doesn't take the geniuses at Forbes magazine to figure out that if you own the rights to all the food grown everywhere, you literally rule the world.

''In pursuing this business model, Monsanto has managed to do more damage to the world's food supply and public health than any other single entity. About 90 percent of all US-grown corn, soybeans, canola, and sugar beets are genetically modified versions, which means that virtually all processed food items contain at least one or more genetically modified ingredients. You simply cannot avoid Monsanto's genetically modified food, no matter how hard you may try.

''Exactly none of the supposed benefits of GM crops - increased yields, more food production, controlled pests and weeds, reductions in chemical use in agriculture or drought-tolerant seeds - have actually materialized. The Global Citizen's report on the State of GMOs points out that, in fact, the opposite has occurred. GMOs have resulted in greater pesticide use and the predictable emergence of herbicide resistant super weeds. In fact, 130 types of weeds in 40 states are now herbicide-resistant, increasing costs, cutting yields and leading to the use of more powerful and increasingly toxic chemical herbicides.

''Virtually every branch of the US government, including the Supreme Court and the World Bank, has acted as Monsanto's handmaiden, often times using taxpayer money to do so. Monsanto's ruthless business practices, high seed prices and vicious legal attacks have played a key role in the disappearance of small and medium-size farms, bankrupting small farmers and driving world agriculture further toward huge monocultures and complete control by a handful of agribusinesses and food-processing corporations. There is a growing epidemic among small farmers in many countries, especially India, where in the past 16 years, well over 250,000 have committed suicide, most of them small cotton farmers where Monsanto controls 95 percent of the cotton seed and makes its living off of suing farmers trapped in debt.''

The above is excerpted from my link immediately above & I further append fyi in ''peace, love and light'' :

"Death by Corporation" is an excellent Truthout article and a great addition to this thread (can't wait to see Part 2), shadz, as I'm sure these five are as well. "Bread and Circuses" is well worth the five minutes, but I haven't got the chance to read the Chomsky portion of the 'Propaganda' link yet. The Zeese/Flowers article is worthy and I'll try to get to the other four asap. ;-)

Thanks again for the invaluable spread of vital information, my friend.

''A 2009 WikiLeaks cable from the US embassy in the Holy See reports that “Vatican officials remain largely supportive of genetically modified crops as a vehicle for protecting the environment while feeding the hungry, but - at least for now - are unwilling to challenge bishops who disagree”. from :

''That the primary purpose of GMOs is NOT in fact to safeguard the environment is suggested by, inter alia, a 2012 study by Washington State University research professor Dr Charles Benbrook, who found that the proliferation of such crops has caused increases in the use of hazardous pesticides in the US.

''As for the claim that GMOs are a proper antidote to the problem of global hunger - it is actually worth reviewing renowned environmental activist Dr. Vandana Shiva's observation that “one billion people are without food because industrial monocultures robbed them of their livelihoods in agriculture and their food entitlements”. The following sound bite from Dr. Shiva's strong appearance last year on the BBC's 'HARDtalk' meanwhile obliterates the notion of any positive correlation between the GMO industry and human well being :

"We see the consequences of [seed patenting] in India, where, since the big companies came in and took over the seed supply - especially in cotton - we have had 270,000 farmer suicides, most of them driven by debt and the debt caused by high-cost nonrenewable seeds." from :

From last link : ''Too bad, the White House appointed the former Monsanto VP for public policy, Michael Taylor, as second in charge at the Food and Drug Administration ..... Bad For The Bees ; Bad For Us.'' !

Damn, Wikileaks is turning out to be a treasure trove. I wonder how the battle in the Vatican has progressed since then? It was good see Benedict stressing the need to protect the environment:

"The Pope stressed that states have an obligation to future generations to reduce environmental degradation. Citing the probable link between environmental destruction and climate change, he stated that protecting the environment requires "change in the lifestyles of individuals and communities, in habits of consumption and in perceptions of what is genuinely needed."

Now, I'm not a big fan of religion and definitely not Vatican City, but damned if the Pope ain't dead on the money this time. Assuming it's not lip service, but it doesn't seem to read that way.

But I don't even know what the fuck to say about this that hasn't already been said:

"One billion people are without food because industrial monocultures robbed them of their livelihoods in agriculture and their food entitlements."

I'm so pissed off, I'm tempted to put up that Bruce Cockburn clip again. Oh, the hell with it (heheh):

Monsatan .. ''claims it has left chemical manufacturing behind and is exclusively focused on sustainable solutions to food production promoting the use of GE corn, soy, cotton and other crops. And now this is where the Gates Foundation comes in : A financial donor to Monsanto, the Gates Foundation advocates for the use of GE foods to solve hunger in developing countries. However, history has shown that instead of eradicating hunger, GE seeds perpetuate food insecurity.''

Tobacco giant Philip Morris is suing the Australian government to overturn public health laws aimed at reducing teenage smoking. Chevron has hired 2,000 lawyers to avoid paying Ecuador $19 billion in damages due for the horrific oil spills they inflicted. And Bayer is suing Europe to overturn their ban on bee-killing pesticides -- all while investing millions with Monsanto to defeat an effort to label GM foods in the US. All of this is actually happening, and happening right now.

This is corporate power gone crazy, and the world’s biggest corporations are determined to defeat any efforts of our democracies to hold them to account. By investing billions in dirty legal battles, corrupt backhand payments and lobbying campaigns, corporations are taking over our democracies -- and only people power can stop them.

As powerful as these companies may appear, they are at the mercy of consumers -- us. We might not be able beat a team of 2,000 corporate lawyers in court, but we have the numbers to hit back where it matters -- their bottom line.

There's 1.3 million of us and we're growing fast -- if we commit now to all come together every time a corporation tries to use the courts to overturn a public, democratic decision, we can make these multinationals think twice before engaging in these dirty tactics.

Can you donate just $2 now so that we can take on Philip Morris, Chevron and Bayer -- and any other company who puts their profits ahead of our democracies?

We can stop these company's evil ways, and we have the tools and know-how to do it -- all we need now is more resources to keep this pressure going. We don’t want to give away all our tactics in case these corporate giants try and stop us, but if we have the funding, we’ll be able to do some of the following:

Invest in undercover exposés to show the way that companies buy votes and witnesses to ensure that decisions go their way -- regardless of what the public thinks

Act quickly to build media interest whenever a company sues a government for holding them to account -- and overwhelm the company with consumer opposition so they know that we're watching

Fight lawsuits directly -- even allowing thousands or hundreds of thousands of citizens and consumers to join in lawsuits -- especially where we can establish key global precedents to keep corporations in check

Hold corporations to account through the trillions that our public pension funds have invested in them -- taking them on and changing their policy from the inside.

Chip in just $2 now to make sure that we can keep standing up to corporations when they use the courts to take over our democracies.

The way that corporations are using the courts is one of the most frightening affronts our democracy. Chevron is throwing everything they have at avoiding paying the Ecuadorian people what they deserve -- $19 billion for horrific oil damage inflicted over decades. They've already spent $1 billion on legal fees alone, called the judge who ruled against them "criminal" and said that it will "fight this until hell freezes over" -- in a desperate attempt to avoid being held to account.

Meanwhile, tobacco giant Philip Morris is suing Australia for tackling teenage smoking under an obscure Australia-Hong Kong investment treaty -- arguing that this arcane document takes precedence over the publicly-backed decisions of the Australian Parliament. And Bayer is ignoring all the scientific evidence that its pesticides are killing millions of bees, and fighting a dirty legal battle to overturn the decisions of the European Union to ban these products -- bans that have massive public backing across the continent.

We can't let them get away with this -- and we know how to stop them. We can't compete with them on raw dollars, but unlike their corrupting profits, our support comes from genuine people power and public support. Our community is as strong as we make it -- and if we come together now, we can keep winning.

In just a couple of years, we've already shown just how powerful coordinated consumer action can be. We've pushed Microsoft and other corporations to quit extreme right-wing lobby groups like the Heartland Institute, who work to undermine the work of our democracies. We've successfully demanded that big supermarkets like Trader Joe's pay their suppliers' workers a decent wage. And we've done much, much more.

The challenge ahead of us is big. But together, we can take that challenge on -- and save our democracies from corporate takeover.

Thanks for everything you do,
Taren, Paul,Kaytee, and the rest of us at SumOfUs.org

That's why Just Label It had been researching the food industry's claims that GE labeling would increase grocery costs. This new report - released this week! - proves that adding labels to genetically engineered foods will not affect food prices or your wallet.

Companies fighting labeling initiatives across the country continue to claim that mandatory GE labeling will increase grocery costs, and that consumers would see their grocery bills skyrocket. But this is just fear-mongering.

We have the facts. Food manufacturers are constantly refreshing their labels, highlighting different flavors and new ingredients, with no added cost to consumers. Adding a simple label to let consumers know what's in the food their buying is simple, easy and won't cost a dime. So what is there to hide?

We're building a movement of concerned citizens – parents, health care workers, small business owners, farmers, and more – who care about what's in the food we eat.

In October 2011, the Just Label It campaign was formed when the Center for Food Safety filed a petition with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to require the labeling of all foods produced using genetic engineering. Days later, we asked citizens from around the country to join us and tell the FDA to "Just Label It." More than 1.2 million Americans have contacted to the FDA urging them to label genetically engineered foods. Ask others to sign on at www.JustLabelIt.org/takeaction.

Consider it done, DK. Thanks ever so much for the update and link to; www.JustLabelIt.org/takeaction.

As much as I want to see GMOs out of our food, going after the corporations to label it, will inadvertently do the same thing through different channels.

The "parents, health care workers, small business owners, farmers, and more – who care about what's in the food we eat", will seek out foods that are labelled GMO free, which will entice corporations to produce more GMO free products, thereby driving sales up, not down.

Geez, don't they test drive their stupid spiels before they pitch them to the public?!?!

@Renneye - no reply button. It is really stupid some of the shit corp(se)oRATions try to pull. My God how stupid to say labeling will drive up price. Do they think none of us see that food is already labeled? Whats in a label makes no difference to cost - SO - How F'n Lame.

Good news for us we can then boycott ge/gmo foods ( that's their little heart attack brain fart ) - bringing down the cost of natural and organic foods due to a rise in purchases. Also friendly to the family farmer who grows natural.

Here's Jeremy Scahill's original article as it appeared in 'The Nation' back in 2010, which is worth a read in its own right. Good stuff there. And Scahill knows a thing or two about Blackwater, apparently:

Considering they DID have a contract with TIC from 2008 till early 2010, and that TIC was the brainchild of the same guy that started Blackwater (Erik Prince), saying they have no affiliation with Blackwater is akin to Clinton saying "I did not have sex with that skank."

But I could find nothing on the web that states specifically "Monsanto buys Blackwater," and I doubt if that's what happened, technically speaking. Here's what we do know; Monsanto had a contract with TIC (described by Scahill as Monsanto's "intel arm") until early 2010. The State Dept threatens to cancel all contracts with Blackwater amidst the company's scandals in the Mideast, so Prince decides to sell the company in the summer of 2010 and move his family to Abu Dhabi. The New York Times reports in September 2010 that Blackwater had "created a web of more than 30 shell companies or subsidiaries in part to obtain millions of dollars in American government contracts." In December of 2010, Blackwater was purchased by USTC Holdings which is described as "an investor consortium led by private equity firms Forte Capital Advisors and Manhattan Partners."

A little backstory: after Prince founded Blackwater in 1997, according to Wikipedia he "purchased about 7,000 acres (from Dow Jones Executive, Sean Trotter) of the Great Dismal Swamp, a vast swamp on the North Carolina/Virginia border, now mostly a National Wildlife Refuge. "We needed 3,000 acres to make it safe," Prince told reporter Robert Pelton. There, he created his private training facility and his contracting company, Blackwater, which he named for the peat-colored water of the swamp. The Blackwater Lodge and Training Center officially opened on May 15, 1998 with a 6,000-acre facility and cost $6.5 million."

In 2009, following the Iraq scandal, Blackwater changed their name to Xe. At around the same time, they changed the Blackwater Lodge and Training Center to, get this, the 'United States Training Center, Inc.' (USTC, Inc.) USTC, Inc. later became USTC Holdings.

Manhattan Partners is described as "a private equity company -- a shop that gathers money from anonymous rich investors and uses the pool of cash to leverage buyouts of big companies they wouldn't have been able to take over on their own." Their website has a copyright date of 2010.

Forte Capital Advisors was founded by Jason De Yonker, who just so happens to be a long-time buddy of Erik Prince with strong ties to Blackwater. Their website is a bit more cryptic, with no copyright date. But I'd wager . . .

So apparently Blackwater (Academi) was purchased by . . . Blackwater! And the junior partner is 'Manhattan Partners,' a shadowy group of rich investors founded the same year Blackwater goes up for sale.

Cofer Black, Vice Chairman of Blackwater from 2005 to 2008, was the man who met with Monsanto initially, and said that TIC would be paid out of Monsanto's "generous defense budget" but would eventually become a line item in the company's annual budget.

Make of it what you will, but what is certain is large corporations are hiring thugs, but unlike the strike-breakers hired by the corporate 'Mustache Pete's' of a century ago, todays MNC's are hiring militarily-trained professionals with strong ties to the federal government. And it's not much of a stretch that Manhattan Partners could very well include the likes of Monsanto, other members of the Big Six, and maybe a little Bill Gates thrown in for good measure. But that's just speculation on my part. ;-)

Re. Monsatan and Blackwater, thanx for the excellent sleuthing 'g' & I read your great links with a deep interest and a dark fascination. The upshot is - we don't really know because of the shell company and 'private equity fund' shell game of smoke and mirrors. So be it. We can assume that they are in league and on the same side of any line you and and I may draw and ergo, I append :

Smoke and mirrors are definitely two of the most used tools in the globalist's toolbox. That and the shells they used for their oft-played shell games. Monsanto played such a game back in the late '90's, early 2000's with Solutia, one of its offspring. I wasn't paying much attention at the time, but from what I recall Monsanto owed a substantial amount of money (don't remember exactly what it was) and the whole scheme was a way of Monsanto getting rid of these liabilities. Solutia was formed Sept. 1, 1997 and consider:

''A 2009 WikiLeaks cable from the US embassy in the Holy See reports that “Vatican officials remain largely supportive of genetically modified crops as a vehicle for protecting the environment while feeding the hungry, but - at least for now - are unwilling to challenge bishops who disagree”.

Can you imagine? Sure sell one crop ( semi poisonous? ) seeds to poverty stricken areas - so that they can't save seed from the crop for replanting their fields next time around. REALLY???

GM, U R Teaching me here. This is a new line of thought. I think you are saying that we are in an Age of Darkness after being pulled back from the Age of Reason. I know my observation has been printed else where I just can't remember where.

I am still learning about GMO and the studies on both sides. I have heard about the problems of GMO, and the capture of Regulators in the FDA, ... I.E. Taylor.

But there is a lot of ground to cover. I have a lot to read. I'm still watching a Video on Vimeo, In our backyard...

I know 250,000 Indians have killed themselves due to Monsanto Seed Debt.

The part I need to learn is Political Spin, Political Operations, Political Tactics, ... of Monsanto. The Destruction of employees reputations, the attacks on employees and scientists, the capture of Universities, the capture of Regulators..... As you know it just gets deeper and deeper when Wikileaks shows US Ambassadors, Government Officials, Regulators, World Bank, US Representatives, FDA, and others are involved. It could be a lifetime of study.

Hi, MA. There certainly is a lot of ground to cover. You have an impressive capacity to absorb information on a lot of subjects, I've noticed, so I hope you have time to dive into some of these links. It certainly took me a while to cover it all, and I've only scratched the surface. Some of these links, like GMWatch for example, have far too many pages to read. And you're input is certainly welcome.

Thanks for the reminder about the 'In our backyard' video. I haven't had the chance to see that one yet. I think shadz first put it up and I have it bookmarked somewhere, so I'll have to give it a look soon. He highly recommended it.

Washington, DC--(ENEWSPF)--July 10, 2013. Several beekeeping organizations have filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) to reverse a recent decision to register a new pesticide, sulfoxaflor, which is highly toxic to bees. The beekeepers are not satisfied that their submitted concerns were properly addressed by EPA before registration was granted. Sulfoxaflor is a sub-class of the neonicotinoid pesticides that have been linked to global bee declines. The suit is filed as the beekeeping industry across the country struggles for survival, and faces the costly effects of pesticides upon their businesses.

Thanks, Brad, for this timely update. I'm aghast. The definition of insanity, to be sure. Which brings up an important question. WTF are America's farmers thinking? In my opinion, they are ultimately responsible for much of this damage due to their turning a blind eye to this obvious environmental destruction caused by their business practices.

I wholeheartedly concur with the statement "Monarchs or Monsanto, we can't have both" or, more accurately, the long-term view: "Mankind or Monsanto, etc." Thanks for the link, and never give up exposing the truth!

And from the completely disorganized mess a.k.a. my "Monsanto bookmarks," some bug links:

“As scientists, physicians, academics, and experts from disciplines relevant to the scientific, legal, social and safety assessment aspects of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), we strongly reject claims by GM seed developers and some scientists, commentators, and journalists that there is a ‘scientific consensus’ on GMO safety and that the debate on this topic is ‘over’.”

“We feel compelled to issue this statement because the claimed consensus on GMO safety does not exist. The claim that it does exist is misleading and misrepresents the currently available scientific evidence and the broad diversity of opinion among scientists on this issue. Moreover, the claim encourages a climate of complacency that could lead to a lack of regulatory and scientific rigor and appropriate caution, potentially endangering the health of humans, animals, and the environment.”

The number of scientists on either side of a question does not, alone, imply a final answer. But it does indicate whether the question is closed or still open. It does indicate that those who claim the question is closed are wrong.

Completely wrong.

Monsanto PR and government PR and media PR are so many tongues wagging in the wind.

In previous articles, I’ve highlighted dangers and lies re GMOs. Here I’m simply reporting that a consensus about GMO safety is a delusion.

In other words, anybody can say “everybody knows…” And if those people have access to, or control, major media, they can make a persuasive case.

But the persuasion is nothing more than one voice drowning out other voices.

Other voices who, for example, make this declaration:

(Signatory, Dr. Margarida Silva, biologist and professor at the Portugese Catholic University)—“…research has been mostly financed by the very companies that depend on positive outcomes for their business, and we now know that where money flows, influence grows. The few independent academics left must work double shift to address the vast array of unanswered questions and red flags that keep piling up.”

Or this voice: Signatory, Dr. Raul Montenegro, biologist, University of Cordoba, Argentina—“As things stand, the governments of these countries [Argentina, Brazil] deny that there is a [GMO] problem even in the face of numerous reports from the people who are affected and the doctors who must treat them.”

So far, there are 297 such voices.

Will CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, FOX report this story in full and overturn the false consensus? Will they make room for the 297 voices?

Of course not. Their job is to invent consensus by consulting “reliable sources.” Meaning: liars who also want to invent false consensus." ~

So 'invent consensus by consulting “reliable sources.” Meaning: liars who also want to invent false consensus'' - eh? Well I never! Thanks for this. Never Give Up Exposing The Monopolist Monsters! Occupy Democracy! Solidarity.

'On mandatory GMO labeling laws, Americans are clear: 93 percent want labels. Hillary, where do you stand? 'Hilily' is Hillary's lap dancing stage name perhaps as after all, she does seem to be all things to all people. There are many important embedded links in that NoC article. Here is the very last one - http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=97567 - Never Give Up! Occupy The Food Chain!

No surprise there, eh? No surprise either which way "the wind will blow" if and when she (shudder) gets elected. And tit for tat on embedded links from your highly pertinent NoC article. Rodale Institute, referenced earlier in this thread, is doing amazing work, IMO:

So, . . . Mr. Crowe has been hired as "a director of millennial engagement" for Monsanto. I'm sure that's not his official title, but you gotta love how they word things. He reminds me of that POS, whose name (thankfully) escapes me (but you undoubtedly remember the guy) that was hired to spin the Republican slant in the last big , ahem, Presidential election. I can picture his face, but sure can't remember his name, or I'd Google it for the forum masses.

"Crowe says, '“Millennials are looking to how they’re going to fit into the economy and culture, and they have a new set of ideas that need to be incorporated into all aspects of global life. We use the term “millennial,” but it really has to do with new ideas out there, and listening to them.' "

My God, man, have we fallen this far as a species where this random stream of gobbledygook actually makes any sense? I pity humanity, but haven't lost all hope. Mr. Crowe, who speaks "the same language as 20-35 year olds that have befuddled Corporate America for years" is up against the likes of Rachael Parent. Remember her?

I'm a bit heartened by the fact that, to me, it feels like corporate America is, as they say, "fighting the last war."

And don't get me started on Crowe's partner in crime, one Janice Pearson, who had the clueless audacity to say, " . . . people can put Big Ag as a logo on a building, but when you personalize it, and you’re part of agriculture, that’s where barriers get broken. I don’t think millennials are that interested in the labels."

Emphasis obviously mine. WTF? Labels are all that seem to matter nowadays. Lib, con; Dem, Rep; red state, blue state. She is right about one thing, though, I think: "They’re interested in understanding."

Let's hope so, eh?

On a related note, I got something in the mail a few days ago. Yep, snail mail, from Food and Water Watch, although in this state it'll be a decidedly uphill battle (read: fail. This time anyway).

That's not F&WW's actual petition, of course. It's late, and I'm too tired to search it out, but it's the same fight.

As you know, I have scads of links, and a lot of opinion on this matter, but personal issues have occupied far too much of my time lately, so I extend a very sincere and heartfelt thanks to you for doing your part in keeping this thread alive.

Solidarity, A4C, and never, NEVER give up the fight. I've dropped the ball in regards to forum participation lately, but from a totally personal perspective, this place has achieved it's goal. A personal awakening. It matters not what I do here any more. It's what I do out there.

Thanks :) I was and still am confused though because I'm 99.99% sure that I was right that the initial comment about The Rodale Inst was not on either recent comments or on the comment stream earlier. Must have been a momentary glitch. I really recommend the 'NoC' articles above and below. Solidarity.

Don't bite too hard IF it's a GMO apple in your hand and - despite my previous 99.99% certainty, I may have been wrong, so please don't blow a gasket either! One final link for you just before I have to scoot http://www.nationofchange.org/2014/11/12/5285/ Solidarity :)

“Control oil and you control nations,” said US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the 1970s. ”Control food and you control the people.”

''Global food control has nearly been achieved, by reducing seed diversity with GMO (genetically modified) seeds that are distributed by only a few transnational corporations. But this agenda has been implemented at grave cost to our health; and if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) passes, control over not just our food but our health, our environment and our financial system will be in the hands of transnational corporations.'' from :

You have good reason to be speechless ... as have I at your comprehensive, info-packed comment and links. I got lost looking at http://rodaleinstitute.org/ & missed the pdf file location but will look again later as I have bookmarked the site now and am recommending it to all interested readers.

Thanx for these 5 great links above & your very well researched and knowledgeable comment here and your points re. the different nature of software and biotech open source. I will return to this comment in due course but in the meantime, I leave you with the following as further (wholesome:-) food for thought :

''You know it is true that on the one hand, the concentration of power is
more than ever before. But I think the awareness about the illegitimacy of this power is also more than ever before. If you take into account the number of movements, the number of protests taking place, and the number of people building alternatives, it’s huge.''

~

Sowing seeds is also a political act and this forum ; this thread in general and the now removed comment in particular - does / did - exactly that.

I had meant to come back here and make a further reply with my linked article above to the outstanding comment to which I initially replied above BUT it has been removed !!! I read that comment very carefully and was very impressed by it and it had 5 excellent links which were thoughtfully excerpted but frankly, readers are going to have to take my word for that - because the excellent comment has been banned !! I assure any and all readers, present and future - that the lost comment had no content whatsoever that warranted it being censored !

I was speechless before but am a little less so now, tho' I will quote another long term poster here in reply : ''Please explain then, why someone doing a right and proper job should be arbitrarily fired. I find that not only incredibly improper, but highly illogical and likely damaging to ANY true Democracy.'' from:

I am beginning to get the distinct feeling that my days on this forum are slowly but surely numbered but equally I have the intuition that that may actually be the desired result too & as such find myself at a bit of a limbo, quandary and crossroads.

As days grow shorter, darker and colder so sometimes The Spirit ebbs and flows. We are too few here to lose old posters or discourage the new. Only 'The Work', OWS & The 99% matter ... the rest is just fluff and ego and fickle humanity. Here's why we're here y'all :

''There are days, now and again, when I feel as if my skull is going to seethe through my face, as if I want to eat my teeth, and I want to simply lay waste to everything, because the absolute worst I could do would be better than leaving the current arrangement intact.

''The first: there is a guy named Tom Brower, who lives in Hawaii, and he really hates homeless people. He hates them so much, in fact, that he smashes the belongings of every homeless person he can find with a sledgehammer. He's actually happy to be videotaped obliterating the meagre possessions of this society's most vulnerable citizens because he is - "disgusted" by them, and calls his actions "justice." He wears an Armani hat, and calls himself a Christian.

''I want to do something practical that will really clean up the streets," said Brower after one of his cruel rampages. "If someone is sleeping at night on the bus stop, I don't do anything, but if they are sleeping during the day, I'll walk up and say, 'Get your ass moving.'" Mr. Brower has not been arrested for this brazenly sociopathic behavior, and he never will be, for Tom Brower is an elected official, a state representative, and a Democrat to boot.''

~

I apologise to any readers for this downbeat soliloquy and I hope to be back to my usual self asap & a happy forthcoming Hanukkah, Solstice and Yule to all.

Thanx for your solidarity and tune which is easier on the ear than my link. Here's hoping that reason, fairness and sanity prevail, here & elsewhere, in the interests of us all. It's all about The 99%, right ?!

''Take him by the hand - " every living breathing individual " & extending that sentiment to other posters, young and old ; new and existing ; saints and sinners too I hope and thus I make a plea for clemency for those who may feel themselves wronged and to those who have the where-with-all to offer remedy and recourse - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjAeeNgsRDU ~*~

What a wonderful idea...and how very befitting that your post is so elegantly graced on this particular thread.

Hence, and if you don't mind, I will second the plea set forth in your eloquent post...for the original poster of this forum thread, for other past posters who still wish to contribute, for the 99%, indeed for all of humanity.

If all the days that come to pass
Are behind these walls
I’ll be left at the end of things
In a world kept small
Travel far from what i know
I’ll be swept away
I need to know I can be lost
and not afraid
We’re gonna trip the light
We’re gonna break the night
And we’ll see with new eyes
When we trip the light
Remember we’re lost together
Remember we’re the same
We hold the burning rhytm in our hearts
We hold the flame
We’re gonna trip the light
We’re gonna break the night
And we’ll see with new eyes
When we trip the light
(x2)
I’ll find my way home
On the Western wind
To a place that was once my world
Back from where I’ve been
And in the morning light I’ll remember
As the sun will rise
We are all the glowing embers
Of a distant fire
We’re gonna trip the light
We’re gonna break the night
And we’ll see with new eyes
When we trip the light
(x3)

The only caveat is you trying to avoid the issues by using some Trashy fantasy. Not sure who Trashy is, but I'm not surprised someone already expressed ideas similar to mine, Basic stuff. Nothing original.

How and why would you think that 'Trashy' was a noun, when the word would be taken 'adjectively' by a genuinely confused or nonplussed new reader ?! I've better things to do - like eat some wholesome food now, so I'll leave you with my parting shot & note - the only thing I'm avoiding here right now ... is you ;-)

You used a capital letter for "Trashy" so I assumed you were talking about a person when you said - "That's a Trashy old view". Comparing my view to his. If you meant it as some kind of adjective, I'm sorry I misunderstood. Not sure what a trashy old view would mean?

I agree we must fight the corporate control over our food. However, corporate control is not the fault of GMOs, it's the fault of capitalism. If you open your eyes, you'll notice that companies are getting bigger and bigger in all spheres of the economy, not only in terms of food production. You know that 80% of glasses are controlled by one company right? Cars, houses, etc... all are being controlled by only a few companies.

We can't go back to primitivism. OWS is not about creating communes like the 60's and living from homegrown foods. Nothing wrong with growing our own foods when possible, but we won't feed the world that way. What we must do is take control of the food production. That doesn't necessarily mean abandoning GMOs. It means not allowing companies like Monsanto to have full control by using patents, by having close contacts with politicians, etc... With open-source, we can give GMOs back into the hands of the people. We did it and continue to do it with software. We can do it with GMOs too.

Also, don't forget GMOs are not just about food. It's modified organisms. The applications affect many fields. Garbage elimination by using modified bacterias and medicine are only two examples.

There are two big problems concerning food. 1) Capitalist control of foods by a few companies 2) An ever growing population meaning we need better ways of producing. We can solve the first problem by creating food using anarcho-syndicalist based businesses instead of capitalist based ones. Food creation should be owned by the people, for the people. The second problem can be solved with better technologies, GMOs being one field that's quite promising in this area.

''If you open your eyes, you'll notice that companies are getting bigger and bigger in all spheres of the economy, not only in terms of food production. You know that 80% of glasses are controlled by one company right? Cars, houses, etc... all are being controlled by only a few companies.'' (and followed immediately by) ''We can't go back to primitivism.'' ---- My eyes are open Trashy - I'd like to think, to deeper psychological analysis of your linguistic juxtapositions and your motives which, as you well know - I don't trust.

GMOs are not an answer to questions for which we already have answers and terms of the debate are increasingly being set by The Corporations and their wholly owned media. Nature can be as we make, mould & manage it, so your allusions to non-food GMOs is not without value BUT nature never spliced animal and plant genes or across species & we'd be ill advised to simply ignore the implications of this.

Your slate.com link forces me to raise some deeper issues as it was founded by Microsoft ... while a certain Mr. William Gates has a big stake in Monsatan too, so any pro-GMO article posted on such a Microsoft-funded site like slate.com, is of dubious value at best and arguably - corporate PR at worst.

Finally, the population issue is a commonly held shibboleth and I strongly recommend that you engage with the following and especially that you watch the Hans Rosling lecture because : a) It is hugely eye opening & b) Because it won't be there long due to copyright issues alas (you know, like SOPA etc. !) :

Meditate further on that Wm. Blake quote, as whether consciously employed or otherwise, it applies to you and your reputation as an inveterate contrarian, precedes you now - but as I've always maintained - still serves an occasional purpose here, so thanx for your reply.

Made epic by the collaborative effort of 3/4 of the active forum members at the time, as I recall. All I did was "plant the seed," heheh. A heartfelt thanks to you and everyone that contributed here. Also good that it'll be available in the future in the (somewhat truncated, sadly) archives.

I wonder if we'll be able to add to archived posts after the shutdown?

Battling Monsanto is battling capitalism and it's scourge on society. The forum has been a great place to lay down information and show the world how the American left feels about topics such as Monsanto.

What could be more important than our food supply? But, oh, yeah, it's all connected: food, poverty, the environment, inequality, racism, the military and prison industrial complexes, banking, financialization, and on and on. Profit. That's all they care about.

Thanks, bw, and sincere apologies for taking so long to respond. Yes, they're all connected and GMO's are so much on the front burner nowadays that not a day goes by that there isn't an article to link. I'm working on a post concerning peer reviews of the subject and will try and finish it, post it, and cross-link it here. But while we wait, here are a few recent links worth reading plus the announcement of a book just published exposing GMOs that comes highly recommended by none other than Jane Goodall, whose reputation and credentials are hardly up for debate:

"According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the monarch population has dropped 90 percent over the past 20 years." 90 PERCENT!!!

"By far the biggest threat, though, is the lowered prevalence of milkweed, due to the increasing use of GMO crops that can withstand a heavy dose of herbicides, Brower said. Milkweed grows in and around crops such as corn and soybeans that are heavily concentrated in the U.S. Midwest. This is the monarch’s spring, summer and fall habitat, and milkweed serves as both the species’ primary food source and where its larvae grow. The problem is that, unlike the GMO crops in close proximity, the milkweed cannot withstand the herbicides. (Milkweed, like other weeds, can stifle crop yield, so farmers don’t like it.)"

90 percent! Now that's depressing, isn't it? I'm firmly convinced that most of the world's leaders - business, political and otherwise - are psychotic. Pathologically fixated on the next election cycle or quarterly profits, they're completely unwilling to plan long-term. Unless it's about money or the preservation or expansion of power, that is.

Add to the monarch's decline, the decline in honeybees, which some sources say are falling by about 30% a year:

"Over the last five years, average annual winter losses among U.S. beekeepers have totaled about 30 percent, said Andrew Joseph, the state apiarist for the Iowa Department of Agriculture. That means that American beekeepers are losing almost a third of their bees each winter. Iowa beekeepers have seen even higher mortality, with average annual losses reaching 54.1 percent during that time period, Joseph said." From:

And although this article about the alarming decline in amphibian populations doesn't mention Bt's or GMOs specifically, this excellent article from Truthout not only mentions the detrimental effect Atrazine has on the endocrine system of amphibians (and probably humans as well), but also the lengths BigAg will go to "silence the truth."

And thanks as well to you, bw, for not only the work you've done on this subject, but on all you do on this site. And for the 99%!

Leave it up to so-called "public broadcasting" to wait until the eleventh hour to finally speak the obvious. I remember well those times before PBS sold-out, before they became just another establishment mouthpiece. Look how they word their piece: "Long-cleared Roundup, . . EPA has deemed safe, etc.

The health risks of Roundup have been known almost since Day 1, and the case of Roundup is the poster child for corporate capture of the regulatory bodies here in the US.

"The U.S. Geological Survey said Thursday that populations of frogs, salamanders and toads have been vanishing from places where they live at a rate of 3.7 percent a year."

Amphibians are the first place scientists look to tell the overall health of an ecosystem. It's not looking good. In fact, it is just so sad. At that rate, it won't be long before they're gone. And, the thing that we forget is that ALL LIFE IS CONNECTED. No amphibians is no food to other critters and so on and and so on.

I think you are right when you say that the people in charge are psychotic. So long as we tie money to politics and we allow our politicians to become millionaires after a few years in office, we just won't win this. Greed seems to be the overarching quality of human beings in power and politicians in particular. They are owned and controlled by greedy corporations who have no interest in conservation and preservation. They're only interest is in profit and it matters not to them how they get it.

"ALL LIFE IS CONNECTED. No amphibians is no food to other critters and so on and and so on."

It's such a no-brainer, isn't it? Which shows just how much greed has destroyed modern civilization. It's mind-boggling in a dark sort of way. Life has existed on this planet for at least 3.5 BILLION years, survived five mass extinction events, and it's taken humans a mere 300 years or so to render this place practically uninhabitable.

And we all play a part, although most of us are caught up in it and don't have a whole lot of options to improve things. I mean, is it even feasible to go back to making our own soap again? Not really.

"...scientists fear the biologically active contaminants and their metabolites may alter the hormones of fish and other aquatic creatures, leading to reproductive, behavioral and developmental problems."

And, what many don't know is that we're in the midst of The Sixth Mass Extinction:

"We’re currently experiencing the worst spate of species die-offs since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago."

Yep, we're in the midst of the 'Holocene Extinction, the sixth mass extinction event and according to many sources, we're the primary source. A few bookmarks I've had laying around for a while (I think I posted them to one of Kavatz's posts) have to do with that, plus a link to the ICUN Red List, which, if someone wants to take a bit of time (it does) is a fascinating source. I was a bit surprised when I checked over a year ago that humans aren't listed as being in danger of imminent extinction. Which makes one wonder:

Here's a critical article, courtesy of LeoYo, from his excellent Foodopoly thread. I'm cross-linking this here, on your very important & educational thread, for further sharing of this imperative information.

Excerpts;

~ "Science writer George Monbiot says neonicotinoids are the "new DDT killing the natural world," 10,000 times more powerful than DDT."

~ "Neonics are in the spotlight when it comes to bees, but scientists warn that other chemicals could be responsible, too, including those used widely in the production of GMO crops. For instance, there's Dow's 2,4-D, closely associated with the infamous Agent Orange defoliant used in Vietnam."

There's just too many excerpts to choose from. There's an explosion of new organism killing pesticides being thrown at us. Please take the time to read this eye-opening article.

~"An expose on corporate agri-businesses globalized use of GMOs and their influence on our economy, the environment, and our health and the organic community gardens sprouting up in rural and urban back yards using heirloom seeds and volunteer gardeners. "~

That's a damn good video. I like how she points out how much is interconnected; the WTO, IMF, Monsanto and Co., poverty, environmental destruction, government and the military, privatization. And the goal of keeping the truth from the public. That blurb with Michael Taylor, what a p.o.s. You can see in his eyes he knew he was lying when he said "Monsanto is committed to feeding the poor and a clean environment."

And she's right on in the solution being in the people, and that our survival depends on it. Time to deglobalize.

Hmmm...looks like cooler heads prevail. It's not a done deal yet, but a step in the right direction. Lets hope this sets a precedent for all countries to stand up to this corporate monstrosity, and the beast is starved out of business.

~"Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the relevant agencies to consider a possible ban on the import into Russia of products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by October 15.

The order is addressed to Rospotrebnadzor, the Health Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry, and the Trade and Economic Development Ministry. They are ordered to “submit proposals on amendments to the Russian legislation aimed at tightening control over the turnover of products containing components obtained from GMOs together with the relevant federal executive bodies.”

Find the Full Russian Government Announcement in Russian

Here: government.ru/docs/6128

The aforementioned agencies are also ordered to submit proposals “on the possibility of banning the import of such products into the Russian Federation.”

A list of the prime minister’s orders was drawn up to fulfill the presidential orders issued after the meeting on the socio-economic development of the Rostov region held on September 18. Medvedev’s orders have been posted on the government website."~

'Ready to rebuff any scientific evidence that has proven GMOs are deadly toxic, harm the environment, and tarnish the world food supply, a group of biotech giants have launched an online forum to stand up against activists who are making the evil face of GMO famous. The website is backed by US biotech bullies: Monsanto, DuPont and Dow AgroSciences, according to Reuters.'

'Supposedly, the website, www.GMOAnswers.com aims at ‘answering your questions about GMOs no matter what they are’ and to ‘open the lines of communication and offer more transparency,’ but with the GMO giants and biotech companies, this has not been their track record. More likely, this is an attempt to respond to the overwhelming backlash in the US and elsewhere to GMOs, and specifically the requests to label this poison food.' Also see -

Thanks for the links A4C, and many thanks for adding to this important thread. And thanks for the complement, too. I felt a little guilty for not making it to the MOM rally earlier this summer considering it's in my own backyard, so to speak, so I figured I should at least make a post about them.

I just came across that article from Nation of Change yesterday about the pro-GMO website and bookmarked it with the intent of posting it here. I have a couple dozen new links I've been meaning to place here anyway and now that you've bumped this, maybe I'll have to get off my ass and quit procrastinating, heheh.

Will check out your three other links as well, of course. Thanks again for adding all this new info.

"As a seed executive for Monsanto admitted 20 years ago, 'If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.' "

Now, why would he say that, I wonder? Hmmm . . .

I can't say definitively, but I suspect Monsanto knew full-well of the dangers of GMOs from Day 1, having conducted their own long-term tox studies and that's why subsequent studies have been confined to 90 days or less. Although it's speculation on my part, that quote makes one wonder, eh?

"The journal Proteome Science, ranked among the top six publications in the proteomics field, published in December 2013 a survey showing molecular differences between genetically modified organisms and their non-GM counterparts (conventional maize and a Monsanto transgenic maize MON810). The experiments were conducted in two different agroecosystems in the municipalities of Santa Catarina: Campos Novos and Chapecó. The researchers found 16 different proteins between the two types of corn grown at each site (32 different proteins in total) - i.e., the differences were highly dependent on environmental conditions and were therefore more difficult to predict.

"Each of these different proteins found could cause a change in a metabolic pathway or interaction within the cell, which in turn could generate new characteristics in the plants, with possible effects on human/animal health or the environment.

"These differences in the proteome of plants do not pose a risk in themselves, but they are an indicator that there may be risks and that these should be confirmed by appropriate techniques that are not currently used in assessments of GMOs.

"The new study provides further evidence that we are cultivating and consuming on a large scale [food produced with] a technology that has not been tested thoroughly and rigorously, and that in addition to important risks that have become apparent from independent surveys conducted in recent years, other unknown risks may be involved."

And at a wee bit of a tangent, but not all that far (it's all connected, after all):

'The killings of environmental and land rights activists worldwide has tripled over the past decade. The group Global Witness documented 147 activists who were killed in 2012, compared to 51 in 2002. The death rate is now an average of two per week. Almost none of the killers have faced charges.' - is a shocking fact from your final link above. Your other truth-out link from Thom Hartmann is no less shocking really.

What I'm considering doing is going on that new pro-GMO website and linking this post but telling the readers to bookmark it quickly because it'll be removed in very short order, I'm sure.

Hey, I wonder what would happen if other forum members did the same periodically? Especially the ones with Tor or some other dynamic IP setup so they couldn't block the OWS IP right away? We could link it numerous times a week so that anyone reading their b.s. would have a chance to come here to see all the various articles and study papers we have here. Hell, we might even get a few converts to become semi-regular forum members. Lord knows we need them, heheh.

I'm going to in the next few days. But I just went to that site and I get the impression it won't last long. Chances are it's going to backfire because in the questions section there are a number of anti-GMO people posting there, with links. Not a lot of questions yet, though.

I have a bookmark to the Tor site but I haven't yet went there to find out anything about it. How do you know about it, Tenacious? Heheheh, never mind. ;-)

I should be able to link this page directly in my comment on the questions page, I would think.

And I'm more than happy for them to come on aboard! After all, it's right in the OP, counter-arguments strongly encouraged.

I'm not sure yet whether I want to play innocent, i.e. "I found this post on the OWS website and want your opinion" or to be perfectly straight about it. I may just play it straight, other posters there have usernames like "NoGMO." If I play it straight I'm going to tell interested readers to make a note of the link before the site masters remove it. And if they remove it, I'll just go back under another username in the near future and put it back in.

I haven't made an account there yet, but that's a good reminder, so thanks for pointing that out to me. There are others in this household whose e-mail address I could use instead of mine. I might even post it from my sister's laptop so it has a different IP.

"This is a goo....never mind. I don't want your head to get too big." Heheh, thanks, it's good to keep me humble. ;-)

Well, I decided to do a little edit of my own. I changed "but" to "and."

But now it kind of negates some of our recent comments, I guess, heheheh. Oh well. And yes, I like Hedges. I've seen a few of his interviews and have a couple more bookmarked that I hope to get to soon.

Yes, it is getting a tad late, my friend. It's soon for me as well. I'll probably be adding to this post tomorrow because I have quite a few links saved up. It's just a matter of going thru them again to refresh my memory and sort them all out.

I did not not mean to imply that failure was an option or a possibillity

I do think that it is good to remind ourselves and each other at times that failure is not an option

Chris Hedges who covered all the up-risings in eastern Europe said there was no way of predicting when success (for a lack of a better term) will happen, and what will set it off...and it might be something rather small in comparison to all the really bad shit going on. I think he is right

While not having any statistics, I think people are leaving the MSM in droves. I get phone calls regularly from my local corporate-owned newspaper asking me to take up a subscription, and they're in super-markets too offering $20 gift cards if you sign up. This is all very encouraging too

It could be the cumulative effect of all the bullshit going on too.....that sets the stage...

That was a good Hedges interview where he said that. Sometimes the tipping point is a seemingly insignificant event. And I knew you weren't implying failure was an option, I know where you stand on that. I'm certainly in agreement. To give up would be to empower the other side. I should have worded that first sentence differently, 'cause I can see it does suggest otherwise. When it gets late, the mind tends to wander, heheh.

Replying here. They almost always give me a hard time going through HS at the airports, but most of the time, it's 'cause I left some coins in my pocket, or maybe my little Occupy button still on...lol

On a serious note....I have read about people who are in stressful situations often develop a kind of warped sense of humor. My daughter who is a public defener, and the ER nurse i met in AK confirmed this to me. Actually my daughter first told me that

With us though, I think, it's more we realize the dire consequences if we were to fail

Some of the most successful comedians often had more than their fair share of hardship or tragedy in their childhood, so there's definitely some truth to that. And it takes a bit of intelligence to have one as well, I think.

As far as failure, it may take a while and I don't see failure in the cards. With each new revelation about the sad state of affairs and what's been going on behind the curtain, there's an equal number of stories about people becoming aware and involved. There even seems to be small cracks forming in the hallowed halls of TPTB, but how much of that is real and how much is propaganda and double-talk remains to be seen. One things certain and that is, politicians need the voting public to keep their jobs and the more aware and pissed off the public gets, the more they'll begin to bow a bit to our will if only to keep their jobs. That's my hope anyway

Yep. And there are some interesting tidbits in the comment section of that article as well. One guy was pulled over while driving a rental van "too close" to Buckingham Palace, whatever "too close" means nowadays. There's no doubt he remained on the public thoroughfare.

Anyway, he said one of the cops told him if he would've taken much longer to pull over, they had orders to shoot him dead. This b.s is seriously getting out of hand, isn't it?

"On its corporate website, Monsanto clearly expresses its opinion that GMOs are no different from natural crops, and thus do not need to be independently safety tested. This a highly convenient position for the company to take, as it facilitates the unlimited propagation of untested GMOs under the guise that they are indistinguishable from any other crop in the natural world. And this is Monsanto's official position on GMOs, mind you, and the one that the company stands by in defending its refusal to conduct long-term GMO safety tests on humans.

But if GMOs are "substantially equivalent" to non-GMOs, then how can Monsanto hold enforceable patents on any of its products? After all, GMOs and non-GMOs are exactly the same, right? Not exactly. When it comes to enforcing patents on its "Frankencrops," Monsanto holds a much different position on the substantial equivalence of its products and natural products. For purposes of generating tens of billions of dollars annually from patent royalties, Monsanto adamantly insists that GMOs are uniquely different from non-GMOs.

So which is it? Are GMOs the same as non-GMOs or are they different? There is no single answer to this question in the eyes of Monsanto, which shifts its answer to accommodate its own corporate interests. But in reality, there can only be one true answer to this question, and science answers it for us quite clearly: GMOs are metabolized by the body differently than natural crops, and almost always carry with them harmful side effects.

It is probably not all that surprising that this glaring disparity has yet to be addressed by the mainstream media. But it just goes to show how deeply corrupted the regulatory bodies of our country and the media outlets that openly abet them have become, allowing Monsanto to play logical gymnastics on the GMO substantial equivalency issue without question. This insanely obvious conspiracy needs to be brought to the world's attention . . . "

hey beauty - glad to see you are still at it! keep it up. just stopped in to the site to see what is going on - looks like same old - no? hope you are well - i am busy - as usual. lots of victories seems to me.large and small - corbyn in uk - the pope! the mayors in spain - the greek elections and south america as always near the forefront of changing the world. bernie making hillary nervous and to top it off we have trump spouting single payer, campaign finance reform and ending outsourcing through tariffs!! who would have thunk it

So nice to see you flip. Quel surprise! Yes, you make a very good list there. The global 99% are beginning to wake up in bigger and bigger numbers!

I'm still here because, well, the 99% still need our help. And, though turncoats abound, I think the revolution is just beginning and the American ethos is on a positive path of change.

I hope you and your family are well and maybe you'll post some more for tomorrow. Also, I will reiterate the twitter thing. Join us there, there is a lot going on on twitter! I'm @4beautifulworld. Be well.

Thru a convoluted dance of name-changes, transfers of liabilities and assets, mergers and spinoffs, Monsanto was able to get rid of a whole lot of debt or liabilities, from what I recall. I believe they owed the government millions.

A highly concerning new investigative report from the largest daily newspaper in Germany alleges that Monsanto, the US Military and the US government have colluded to track and disrupt both anti-GMOactivists and independent scientists who study the adverse effects of genetically modified food.

As revealed yesterday by Sustainable Pulse, on July 13th the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung detailed information on how the US Government "advances the interests of their corporations," focusing on Monsanto as a prime example. The report titled, "The Sinister Monsanto Group: 'Agent Orange' to Genetically Modified Corn," described a 'new fangled cyber war' being waged against both eco-activists and independent scientists by supporters and former employees of Monsanto, who are described as "operationally powerful assistants" and who have taken up sometimes high ranking posts in the US administration, regulatory authorities, and some of whom have connections deep within the military industrial establishment, including the CIA.

"Monsanto contacts are known to the notorious former secret service agent Joseph Cofer Black, who helped formulate the law of the jungle in the fight against terrorists and other enemies. He is a specialist on dirty work, a total hardliner. He worked for the CIA for almost three decades, among other things as the head of anti-terroism. He later became vice president of the private security company Blackwater, which sent tens of thousands of soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan under US government orders."

"Thanks to Snowden and Wikileaks, the world has a new idea of how these friends and partners operate where power and money are concerned. The whistle-blowing platform published embassy dispatches two years ago, which also included details about Monsanto and genetic engineering."
"For example, in 2007, the former US ambassador in Paris, Craig Stapleton, suggested the US government should create a penalties list for EU states which wanted to forbid the cultivation of genetically engineered plants from American companies. The wording of the secret dispatch:

"Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU." Pain, retaliation: not exactly the language of diplomacy."

The report details the case of Australian scientist Judy Carman, whose work on GMOs underwent heavy criticism by Monsanto supporters. Soon sites that published her work were attacked by hackers with apparent military connections:

Hackers regularly target various web pages where Carman publishes her studies and the sites are also systematically observed, at least that is the impression Carman has.Evaluations of IP log files show that not only Monsanto visits the pages regularly, but also various organizations of the U.S. government, including the military. These include the Navy Network Information Center, the Federal Aviation Administration and the United States Army Intelligence Center, an institution of the US Army, which trains soldiers with information gathering.Monsanto's interest in the studies is understandable, even for Carman. "But I do not understand why the U.S. government and the military are having me observed," she says.

The report went on to describe the ongoing though mostly failed crusade of the United States, seemingly on behalf of Monsanto, to open up the European Union's markets to genetically engineered food and feed crops. According to the report:

"The USA is hoping that negotiations started this week for a free-trade agreement between the USA and the EU will also open the markets for genetic engineering."

"The Americans want to use the Free Trade Agreement to open the European GMO Market. The negotiations will be detailed. Toughness will rule the day. US President Barack Obama has therefore appointed Islam Siddiqui as chief negotiator for agriculture. He has worked for many years for the US ministry of agriculture as an expert. However, hardly anyone in Europe knows: From 2001 to 2008, he represented CropLife America as a registered lobbyist.

CropLife America is an important industry association in the United States, representing the interests of pesticide and gene technology manufacturers – including of course Monsanto. "Actually, the EU cannot accept such a chief negotiator because of bias", says Manfred Hausling, who represents the Green Party in the EU parliament.

If this report is accurate, we can assume that Monsanto has so thoroughly populated both the government and military industrial complex with its own supporters that any remaining illusion of there being a division of Corporation and State has now been dispelled. Worse, we are bearing witness to the preeminence of the Corporation over State, the very definition of a corpocracy.

Interesting #1 as I ran across an item about a yeast ( synthetic ) was created to secrete vanilla - and at this point in time has not been ruled as synthetic and may well be labeled as natural ( GMO would love the natural designation ) if approved or just passed/accepted as natural - well that tears the Natural designation doors right off of the hinges and lets all manner of created things run loose to be dealt with the same way.
Label? ummm ...................

Yes - education of the consumer is essential - perhaps when they find out they will boycott and otherwise get involved as well as take a good look at those in office that are allowing this to happen - then with enough impetus - we may see the people get involved significantly and we will Have a Universal Health care plan where those genetic idiots along with the insane greedy can get treatment.

Exactly - for profit health care is subject to the greedy bastards getting involved and making prices insane. A Dr would still be a doctor even if he made only a decent living wage - because that/those individual (s) are drawn to the work by their own interest in it. Now take away a heavy education tuition debt and they are looking pretty good.

Like bad robots, they’re spitting out the same old, tired lies, designed to scare voters into voting against their own best interests. Here's the truth behind their lies.

It’s déjà vu. Last year a coalition of out-of-state, multinational biotech, pesticide and junk food corporations spent nearly $46 million to narrowly defeat Proposition 37, California’s GMO labeling initiative.
Now, the same who’s who of the world’s most notorious global corporate bad actors has descended on Washington State. Why? To try to stop Washington State voters from passing I-522, a citizens’ initiative that, if passed, will require mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in all food products sold in Washington.
Like bad robots, they’re spitting out the same old, tired lies, designed to scare voters into voting against their own best interests.

Here are the lies. And the facts. Please read, print, email, roll up and stuff into a bottle you launch into the sea . . . whatever it takes to spread the word that while $46 million may buy a lot of lies, it doesn’t change the facts.

Truth:Empirical studies have concluded labeling would lead to no increases in prices. Since the European Union labeled GMOs in the 1990’s, there has been "no resulting increase in grocery costs."
Trader Joe’s, Clif Bar & Co. and Washington’s own PCC Natural Markets all label their non-GMO product lines at no additional cost to consumers.

Lie: I-522 is full of arbitrary special interest exemptions that will just confuse consumers.

Truth:I-522 requires labeling for the GE foods that are most prevalent in the American diet – food on supermarket shelves. I-522’s exemptions are easy to explain and guided by common sense and the law:

•Restaurants – Restaurants and bake sales are not required to list the ingredients in their products. Requiring labeling for GMOs would have required tracking all the ingredients in restaurant meals, and since no other laws require that, it didn't make sense for this one to.

•Meat, cheese, dairy and eggs from animals - These will be labeled if they come from genetically engineered animals. However, they are exempt if the animals ate genetically engineered feed but are not themselves genetically engineered. This exemption is common all around the world. It didn't make sense for Washington’s law to be stricter than international standards.

•Alcohol – Alcohol labeling is regulated under different laws than food at both the federal and state levels. Because of the single-subject law that requires initiatives to apply to only one subject, alcohol couldn’t be included.

Lie: Consumers don’t need labels to avoid GMOs. All they need to do is buy certified organic products.

Truth:Food companies routinely and intentionally mislead consumers by labeling products “natural” in order to attract health-conscious consumers. Because the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) does not prohibit the use of the word “natural” on products containing GMOs, most consumers are fooled by this label. According to a recent poll by the Hartman group, 61 percent of respondents erroneously believed that the use of the word “natural” implies or suggests the absence of GMOs, versus 63 percent who correctly believed that the label "organic" means that a product is GMO-free. Food companies should be required, as they are in some 60 other countries, to clearly state that a product contains GMOs. If companies truly believe their GMO ingredients are perfectly safe, why spend millions to keep from having to label them?

Lie: Washington will be the only state in the nation to label GMOs, unfairly hurting farmers and the state’s multi-billion agricultural industry.

Truth: Washington won’t be the only state labeling GE foods. Connecticut, Maine and Alaska have passed labeling laws and dozens of other states are considering identical proposals. Besides, 64 countries already require labeling, so many farmers are already used to labeling for exports. In fact, many Washington farmers support labeling because they believe that growing GMO crops destroys healthy soil, and because they sell crops to overseas markets that either require labels on GMO crops, or have banned them completely. These countries are increasingly concerned about U.S. non-GMO crops, such as wheat, that could potentially be contaminated by cross-pollination with GMO crops.

Lie: I-522 encourages shakedown lawsuits by giving trial lawyers an unprecedented new right to sue farmers, food producers and store owners over the wording on food labels.

Truth: I-522 offers no economic incentives for lawyers to sue. Consumers can't file a class action suit against food producers without first giving the food producer a warning and the opportunity to comply with the law. As long as the defendant fixes the labels, then no class action is permitted. Once the class action option is off the table, a consumer could sue only to get a court order to require labeling, and only for the few dollars that consumer paid to buy the product. Where’s the incentive?

If the state brings a court action to enforce the new law, any penalties recovered by the state go only to the state - not the plaintiff or the lawyer. Food companies are required by law to label for ingredients, calories, etc., and there have been few violations. Why wouldn’t companies accurately label genetically engineered foods, too?

For the real story about abusive lawsuits by rapacious trial lawyers, check out what Monsanto is up to: suing farmers across the country for growing their own seeds.

Lie: Labeling GMOs creates a bureaucratic nightmare for grocers and retailers and requires the state government to monitor labels on thousands of food products in thousands of stores, costing taxpayers millions.

Truth:Under I-522, the person responsible for labeling processed foods is the person who puts the label on: the manufacturer. Retailers would only have to label the few raw commodities (sweet corn, papaya, squash) that are genetically engineered. They can either stick a simple label on the bin or, if they wish, they can ask their supplier for a sworn statement that the crop is not genetically engineered.

I-522 requires no costly testing for GE ingredients. No burdensome government oversight is necessary. The system is inherently designed to protect small grocers and retailers while providing consumers with the right to know what’s in their food without increasing grocery costs.

Truth: GMOs have never been proven safe. The FDA requires no pre-market health safety studies, and the only long term peer-reviewed animal study conducted involving GMO corn sprayed with Monsanto’s Round Up herbicide, found massive tumors, organ failure and premature death in rats. In addition, a growing body of peer-reviewed animal studies have linked these foods to allergies, organ toxicity, diabetes, cancer, autoimmune disorders, birth defects, high infant mortality rates, fertility problems, and sterility. Clearly, more independent, long term studies are warranted. Until GMOs are proven unequivocally safe, they should be labeled so consumers can avoid them if they choose.

A report released from the non-GMO corn company De Dell, in Canada found GMO corn has 14 parts-per-million (ppm) of calcium while non-GMO corn has 6130 ppm, or 437 times more. According to the report, non-GMO corn also has 56 times more magnesium and seven times more manganese than GMO corn.

Lie: The World Health Organization, American Medical Association, National Academy of Sciences and other respected medical and health organizations all conclude that GE foods are safe.

Truth: The United Nations/World Health Organization food standards group and the American Medical Association have called for mandatory pre-market safety testing of genetically engineered foods, a standard the U.S. fails to meet. A National Academy of Sciences report states that products of genetic engineering technology “carry the potential for introducing unintended compositional changes that may have adverse effects on human health.” Numerous public health and medical groups support the labeling of GE foods, including the American Public Health Association, Washington State Nurses Association, Breast Cancer Action, Allergy Kids Foundation, Autism One, and many others.

Lie: We need GMOs to feed the world.

Truth: Studies have proven that GE crops do not lead to greater crop yields. In fact, just the opposite is true. A 2009 study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found GMO crops fail to produce higher yields. And a recently released, peer-reviewed study published in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability found that conventional plant breeding, not genetic engineering, is responsible for yield increases in major U.S. crops.

Lie: The creation of GE seeds is comparable to the cross-breeding that our ancestors did to create hardier versions of heritage crops.

Truth: Cross breeding is the product of guided natural reproduction, while GMOs are created in a laboratory using high-tech and sophisticated techniques. One of these techniques involves gene-splicing which is used to cross a virus or a bacteria with a plant. These untested, unnatural creations are the antithesis to what our ancestors did, and what responsible farmers do: cross-pollinate different varieties of the same plant to help naturally bring forth desirable characteristics.

Lie: GE crops reduce the need for pesticides and herbicides.

Truth: GE crops have dramatically increased the use of herbicides and pesticides. According to a new studyby Food and Water Watch, the “total volume of glyphosate applied to the three biggest GE crops — corn, cotton and soybeans — increased 10-fold from 15 million pounds in 1996 to 159 million pounds in 2012” with the overall pesticide use rising by 26 percent from 2001 to 2010.

The report follows another such study by Washington State University research professor Charles Benbrook last year that found that overall pesticide use increased by 404 million pounds, or about 7%, from 1996 and 2011. The use of GE crops are now driving up the volume of toxic herbicides needed each year by about 25 percent.

Lie: GE crops aren’t harmful to the environment.

Truth: Besides polluting the environment with herbicides and pesticides, GE crops are leading to biodiversity loss and the emergence of “super bugs” and “super weeds" that are threatening millions of acres of farmland, requiring the need for even more dangerous and toxic herbicides.

GE crops, and the toxic pesticides they are designed to withstand, are endangering numerous critical species, including the honey bee, frogs, birds, fish and the Monarch Butterfly.

And don’t forget our air and water. The island of Molokai in Hawaii has had its air and water quality destroyed by Monsanto’s almost-2000-acre test facility. The same is true worldwide, with many areas around GMO farms reporting horrific bloody skin rashes, an uptick in asthma and toxic pesticides that leach into the groundwater.

A recent editorial by the Scientific American titled "Labels for GMO Foods Are a Bad Idea", argues that requiring labels on GE foods would instill unnecessary fear and rejection of these foods in an already skeptical American public, in addition to halting strides in food production and feeding the world's growing population. Yet the truth is that the PR machines from the biotech industry are performing far better than the actual results of their crops; a look at the facts shows that the bold promises from these companies have yet to be realized. Read Here >>

As the GE labeling movement heats up, more and more Americans are showing clear support for the consumer right to know by buying organic products and products already labeled "non-GMO". How has this affected the profits of biotech giants? A slip in Monsanto's stock in May 2013 left some predicting further loss in the face of growing negative press, while others don't see their financial strength crashing anytime soon. Read More >>

So far, backers of Washington's state ballot GE labeling initiative, I-522, have come out on top, raising four times more cash than their opponents. However, much more money is expected to pour into both sides as November nears, with last year's "No on Prop 37" donors likely to spend millions more on a barrage of TV and print ads throughout Washington state. Read More >>

More than 150 farms, food businesses and organizations have called for the USDA to strenthen its oversight of field trials of experimental, genetically engineered crops. "The current U.S. policy includes neither mandatory contamination prevention measures, nor an adequate system for monitoring the success of containment following trials." Read More >>

We're building a movement of concerned citizens – parents, health care workers, small business owners, farmers, and more – who care about what's in the food we eat.

In October 2011, the Just Label It campaign was formed when the Center for Food Safety filed a petition with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to require the labeling of all foods produced using genetic engineering. Days later, we asked citizens from around the country to join us and tell the FDA to "Just Label It." More than 1.2 million Americans have contacted to the FDA urging them to label genetically engineered foods. Ask others to sign on at www.JustLabelIt.org/takeaction.

On August 8, thousands of farmers and activists from across 20 Indian states demonstrated in New Delhi against the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill, and demanded an end to GMOs in India. 53-year-old farmer Jaswant Sainhara, standing with his son, proudly held up a placard that read, “Monsanto, Quit India.”
August in Delhi is among the hottest months of the year, with temperatures ranging from 40 to 45 degrees Celsius (104 to 113 Fahrenheit). Yet under the sweltering summer sky, the people whose voices rose together that day knew they were not fighting for their justice alone, but were fighting for the basic human right to safe food.
India seems to have awoken to the dangers of GM crops. In a recent move, the courts here rejected two patent appeals by biotech giant Monsanto, dealing a sizable blow to a company that recoups its research investments in large part via patents.
Monsanto wanted to patent its “Methods of Enhancing Stress Tolerance in plants and methods thereof,” and “A method of producing a transgenic plant, with increasing heat tolerance, salt tolerance or drought tolerance.” But both the Patent Appeals Court and the Intellectual Property Appellate Board rejected the company's claims, saying they involved no “inventive steps” as required in the Patents Act of 1970, and that they offered a “mere application” of already known science.
For the many farmers protesting the GM poisoning of their fields, crops and their very livelihoods, the courts' decision was a significant victory and validation for India's food growers. Sainhara, for example, said he didn’t really understand what GM crops were all about until his son — who had been educated through a local NGO — explained to him how GM food and seeds worked.
“For years, I saw my yield going down,” he said. “Where was the strong disease resistant cotton I was promised? I could visibly see the soil quality deteriorating. I was poisoning my sole source of livelihood with my own hands.”
India has a long and contentious history with Monsanto, the multinational ag-biotech corporation headquartered in Creve Coeur, just outside St. Louis, Missouri. The conflict goes back to Monsanto's introduction of BT Cotton here in 2001, when farmers were promised a robust cotton crop that would remain pest resistant.
But there was little warning about the downsides.
GM seeds are prohibitively expensive to start with, as companies like Monsanto charge a premium to offset research costs. But touted as “magic seeds,” the aggressive marketing tactics ensured that many farmers fell victim. They were convinced that the high cost of seeds would be offset by the yield and savings on pesticides. Soon, farmers realized that their age-old pest control was no protection against the vicious bollworms that started attacking the crop.
Forced to buy pesticide from Monsanto at high prices, India's farmers incurred unforeseen debts that tripled once their crops failed and they were forced to buy new GM seeds for the new planting cycle. Still, their crops failed with alarming regularity.
Indian agriculture is very rain dependent, and plants growing from GM seeds need twice as much water as traditional crops. Traditional agriculture here works with the monsoons and the great amount of rain. But by this time the monsoons weren’t enough, and when the rains didn’t come — as they often don’t in India — the crops dried up and died.
A step that was touted to revolutionize food growth in India turned into a vicious cycle of forced debt, poverty and eventually mass suicides that pushed the issue to receive national attention. In a 2008 article titled “The GM Genocide,” the UK-based Mail Online noted that an estimated 125,000 farmers had committed suicide “as a result of the ruthless drive to use India as a testing ground for genetically modified crops.”
The Maharashtra region was touted as a “suicide belt” and the Indian Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that “more than 1,000 farmers kill themselves here each month.”
Nonetheless, the government pushed ahead and allowed companies like Monsanto to use the country's fields and food supply as a giant laboratory. In return for opening up its economy, the Indian government was granted massive loans by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Not all of that money was lost in corruption. The country’s cities boomed while its agriculture lay doomed.
The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at the New York University School of Law stated in a report that “more than a quarter of a million Indian farmers have committed suicide in the last 16 years—the largest wave of recorded suicides in human history.”
In 2010 after massive protests, the government banned the commercial farming of Bt brinjal — India’s first GM food crop — from mass cultivation. The Bt brinjal was developed in conjunction with Mahyco (the Indian subsidiary of Monsanto) and the University of Agricultural Sciences in Dharwad and Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
But the country isn't past its GM food danger yet.
In a bid to ensure that GM food and seed corporations still retain a stranglehold over the country’s food production, the Ministry of Science and Technology drafted the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill. The government initially gave the public 30 days to respond to the bill, and after vociferous protests, an extension of 45 days was granted.
The proposed law “doesn’t make mandatory the labeling of GM food products,” said Ruma Ghosh, a lawyer in Kolkata. “It classifies some information as 'confidential commercial information' which even officials have to take an oath not to reveal.”
Greenpeace India has said the bill reads like "India’s Monsanto Protection and Promotion Act." In a report released in January this year, it also stated that Monsanto has been conducting final biosafety research and field trials for its genetically modified corn, which could be considered for commercialization in India.
For once, India isn’t alone in its protest. Global awareness of the dangers of GM foods has produced a March against Monsanto movement that saw 2 million people worldwide take part in May. The next global action is scheduled for October 12.
In the meantime, the farmer Sainhara knows he has to walk the mean streets of the capital, Delhi, and do his best to make apathetic officials listen.
“I would rather be tending my fields,” he said. “But if I don’t walk now, I won’t have any fields left.”
Jainuddin Bagra, a farmer who came all the way from Maharashtrato to attend the August 8 demonstration, said he won’t move until he knows that the crops he grows won't poison the country. “Nahin jayenge (won’t go)”, he said firmly.
Also in attendance was a 40-year-old farmer named Shankar, who became his family's sole earning member after his father committed suicide. “I worked as bonded labor to pay our debts,” he said. “Now I realize that it’s not just about me. I can poison you and your children also by what I grow in my fields. What will absolve me of murder?”
What will pardon a government that’s determined to barter its country’s health for mere profit? Monsanto recently was forced to pull GM crops out of Europe. The company has now stated that it will focus its European efforts on more conventional agriculture.
There is a clear lesson here for India: a country can survive without big corporations controlling its food. The question is: will the government listen to the people's demands? Meanwhile, a country holds its breath.

Thanks again, 'G', for your continued dedication both on and off this forum, in sharing your knowledge on Monsanto and GMOs.

Below is an exerpt from my favourite 'integrative' doctor, Dr. Mercola, on some of the finer scientific details as to how 'glyphosate' destroys our 'microbiome'. It seems that health-wise, these are desperate times. If we don't stop Monsanto and other reprehensible corporations, the human body will be destroyed.

Toxicology Expert Speaks Out About Roundup and GMOs, October 06, 2013
By Dr. Mercola
Excerpt: Little-Known Facts About Glyphosate
It’s important to realize that glyphosate is not “just” an herbicide. As explained by Dr. Huber, it was first patented as a mineral chelator. It immobilizes nutrients, so they’re not physiologically available for your body.
“You may have the mineral [in the plant], but if it’s chelated with glyphosate, it’s not going to be available physiologically for you to use, so you’re just eating a piece of gravel,” Dr. Huber says.
Naturally, health effects are bound to occur if you’re consistently eating foods from which your body cannot extract critical nutrients and minerals. Mineral deficiencies can lead to developmental and mental health issues, for example. Glyphosate is also patented as an antibiotic—and a very effective one at that— against a large number of beneficial organisms. Unfortunately, like all antibiotics, it also kills vitally important beneficial soil bacteria and human gut bacteria.
“Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Enterococcus faecalis—these are organisms that keep you healthy either by providing accessibility to the minerals in your food or producing many of the vitamins that you need for life. They’re also the natural biological defenses to keep Clostridium, Salmonella, and E.coli from developing in your system,” Dr. Huber explains.
“When you take the good bacteria out, then the bad bacteria fill that void, because there aren’t any voids in nature. We have all of these gut-related problems, whether it’s autism, leaky gut, C. difficile diarrhea, gluten intolerance, or any of the other problems. All of these diseases are an expression of disruption of that intestinal microflora that keeps you healthy.”
“We have about a five-fold increase in glyphosate usage on many of our GMO crops. With the Roundup Ready-resistant weeds, we see that rate going up exponentially,” he says.
Did You Know? EPA Just Increased Allowable Limits of Glyphosate in Your Food
Despite well-understood health risks, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is repeatedly approached by agricultural and biotech companies asking for increased limits of this pernicious toxin in your food.
“The companies say we have to increase the amount of glyphosate that we can have in your food, so we can have a ‘safe’ product – not based on science but based on how much chemical is actually in our food!” Dr.Huber says.
On May 1, the EPA went ahead and doubled the amount of glyphosate allowed in food… Soybean oil may now contain as much as 40 parts per million (ppm) of glyphosate. Meanwhile, research by Dr. Monika Krueger at Leipzig University shows that a tenth of a part per million is all that it takes to kill your Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Enterococcus faecalis! So soybean oil is now allowed to contain a whopping 4,000 times the known limit at which it can impact your health.
more at
<http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/10/06/dr-huber-gmo-foods.aspx>

Our MAM page disappeared briefly from FB, but after queries by the page creator and several of us members, it was reinstated. Our local newspaper, under the mudrock empirical umbilical, will not post any advertising connected to our march.

"The Bowman case went all the way to the Supreme Court and, despite public outcry, the 70-year-old farmer was unanimously found guilty of patent infringement after he purchased and used second generation Monsanto seeds"

Clearly, the mentality of a judge making such a decision is ultimately a guarantee that all of these corporate scams are going to destroy our natural world
.

I don't know what to think about the Bowman case. $84,000 does seem extreme, but not knowing the details of the contract he had with Monsanto, I'd be hard pressed to say whether he should have been found guilty. The article I read said the contract prohibited reusing seeds for the following year's crop, but Bowman planted a second crop that same season. He should have gotten a slap on the wrist, in my opinion. An $84,000 fine could break a small-time farmer. I can understand being fined if he did in fact violate his contract, but a fine high enough to put someone out of business would be extreme.

Unconstitutional decisions are coming out of courts with women judges. See: LTC Terence Lakin, Bradly Manning, or for yuks look what presiding judge of the US district court in LA did when a concerned citizen tried to follow US code relating to 9-11

Wow, that's quite an interesting link. It does suggest that the courts no longer represent the people, doesn't it? Very interesting indeed. I'm going to give it a second read a little while later tonight to absorb it all. Hmmm . . . .

It's connected to women not having the vote until 1919. A friend says it's because females are more easily hypnotized and until the pagans were wiped out, women would be voting for them. In these cases, judges are making COMPLETELY unconstitutional decisions.

Monsanto is now in full retreat against a global grassroots rejection of its poisons and lies. The company is backpedaling on every front now, even admitting defeat in Europe and now trying to focus its last, desperate efforts on the United States and Brazil.

But even in the Americas, Monsanto is losing on every front: GMO labeling legislation is cropping up in over a dozen states, the global March Against Monsanto demonstrated global grassroots unity against GMOs, and even the so-called “science” behind the “safety” GMOs is revealed as utter hogwash now that GMOs have escaped Monsanto’s experimental wheat fields and contaminated commercial wheat crops in America.

Japan has halted U.S. wheat imports and South Korea joined in as well. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company has announced it is going 100% GMO-free, and massive boycotts are under way against brands that tried to block the GMO labeling ballot measure in California (Prop 37).

I think the next March against Monsanto, in October, should more accurately be a march against GMOs. Monsanto's the poster child, but people need to learn about the Big Six.

There's a link here somewhere that shows a win of sorts in Brazil with the judge finding in favor of the farmers to the tune of $5 billion, although the final verdict won't be until next year. Peru has just imposed a ten year ban on GMOs:

BradB put up a post a couple nights ago with an open letter from over 800 scientists from around the world speaking out against GM crops. The thing is, the latest date that letter was submitted to anyone was back in 2000 and has plenty of references as to the known dangers and shortcomings of the technology. My point is, everyone involved, up to and including the US government, KNEW of these problems over 13 years ago. That alone suggests a conspiracy to me, big time. A full-blown legitimate conspiracy that not even Thrashy could deny.

The agenda 21 depopulation theory is hard to deny, in light of all this information. I personally believe the tipping point was the sneaky way the protection act was tabled (or not tabled, as was the case).

And you're right, that it's the big six, and as I showed in the croplife link, they're all under the one banner here in Australia. I passed on your info about Monz infiltrating the CSIRO. Things are moving forward here.

A ten-year ban on GMO in Tasmania is due for re-appraisal in October, so I'm pushing as much info to farmers down there as I can find.

And I was thinking depopulation also. At the very least, lucrative profits for not only Big Ag, but Big Pharma as well. But I'm thinking a more sinister plot. Especially in light of the fact that not only have they been pushing this poison for over twenty years, but stockpiling their own non-GM seeds in their private seed vaults to use after the population crash. And there's also that Ted Talk where that dumb fuck Bill Gates actually admitted his so-called vaccination program is really about depopulation. If you haven't seen it, here's the excerpt. I had to play it twice, because the first time, my reaction was "I'll be damned he really did say that!"

Yep, Big Pharma making a killing (!) off the sickness and disease caused by Big Ag.

Check out this quote from GMWatch:

"Here's a rough translation from the Portuguese of the revealing words of Hector Huergo - the president of the Argentinean Biofuels and Hydrogen Association, and a promoter of GM soy in Argentina. He was speaking at a conference in Buenos Aires at which the keynote speaker was Monsanto's vice president, Robert Fraley: 'Friends, the only thing that matters is to do business. Because the poor will continue to exist, they will have to be the concern of the NGOs (sic). And now the great business will come from biofuels. Once again behind the promises to solve the problems of climate change is hidden the only objective, which is to get a great slice of the future businesses.' "

Psychopath is a very appropriate APPELLATION. THEY JUST DO NOT GIVE A DAMN - not about you not about me - not about their parents - not about their spouse - not about their kids - ONLY ABOUT THEIR PROGRAM = FEED THE GREED. Not even because it gives em a hard-on - just because they figure that is how the game is won - though the world dies.

Did Ted talks figure - SHIT THIS IS GOLD FOR HOW THIS ASSHOLE/PSYCHOPATH LOOKS AT THE WORLD - PEOPLE A NUMBER TO BE REDUCED ONE WAY OR ANOTHER - NOT ONLY THIS ASSHOLE BUT A MULTITUDE OF OTHERS. Damn the public needs to see this. Got any more golden thoughts Bill? - People are looking for material for their next Halloween program - this looks likely to provide much material - but hey your on a roll.

That idiot shouldn't even open his mouth in front of a crowd unless he has a script in hand. And if I'm not mistaken, he got applause for this talk. I wonder how many people in that crowd really, really listened? How many read between the lines?

Applause??? Really??? Was the crowd tripping? Damn lucky thing they didn't have a balcony observation group with immediate access to big rocks. Or was it unfortunate that there wasn't and the main floor exit doors were not locked?

Funny. The few rare times I've seen a clip of him on stage, I would always hope I'd see someone hit him with a bottle or a brick. I've despised that POS since long before he became a, ahem, philanthropist. What he did to numerous small-timers in the software biz should have got him whacked a long time ago.

I decided to watch that clip again and noticed another clip of some gal that defended his stance on vaccines, saying he's just being misunderstood and had as proof something he said in an interview on CNN back in 2008. He claims that vaccines do indeed lower birthrates by decreasing child mortality. WTF??!! Check out his reasoning and tell me he isn't so full of shit he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about:

"GATES: Well, the most exciting thing I learned when I was just getting into philanthropy was that, if you reduce childhood deaths, if you improve health in a society, that, surprisingly, population growth goes down. And that's because a parent needs to have some children survive into adulthood to take care of them when they're old.

And so, if they think having six children is what they need to do to have at least two survive, that's what they'll do. And amazingly, across the entire world, as health improves, then the population growth actually is reduced.

And there's a miracle intervention, which is vaccines. In 1960, over 20 million children died. In 2005, less than 10 million died. And that's despite much larger global population."

Funny. The few rare times I've seen a clip of him on stage, I would always hope I'd see someone hit him with a bottle or a brick. I've despised that POS since long before he became a, ahem, philanthropist. What he did to numerous small-timers in the software biz should have got him whacked a long time ago.

Can't say as I could disagree with that.

I decided to watch that clip again and noticed another clip of some gal that defended his stance on vaccines, saying he's just being misunderstood and had as proof something he said in an interview on CNN back in 2008. He claims that vaccines do indeed lower birthrates by decreasing child mortality. WTF??!!

Exactly = WTF gotta wonder what was wrong with that woman - Hey?

"GATES: Well, the most exciting thing I learned when I was just getting into philanthropy was that, if you reduce childhood deaths, if you improve health in a society, that, surprisingly, population growth goes down. And that's because a parent needs to have some children survive into adulthood to take care of them when they're old.

UMmmm Bill ? Really?? Did you hear what you just said??? "if you improve health in a society, that, surprisingly, population growth goes down" Bill in what world does that begin to make sense?

Huh?

Exactly = HUH???

That is why population growth is running wild - because people are having 6 kids so that 2 will survive as that is the mortality rate.

REALLY Bill???

If that was the mortality rate then the population would not be running out of control - it would be just barely hanging on.

Exactly. If you read the whole transcript, or watch any of his clips, like the one above, he sounds like he's completely clueless. Which just goes to show, you don't need intelligence to get rich, just be a ruthless backstabber.

Earth to Bill Gates: People's motivations for having children isn't to "take care of them when they're old."

And we're talking about third-world people anyway, who rarely if ever use contraceptives. So, if a woman has six kids and four die, that equals two survivors. If you vaccinate, that's SIX FUCKING KIDS, BILL! Instead of two. His own fucking words shows his flawed reasoning: "And there's a miracle intervention, which is vaccines. In 1960, over 20 million children died. In 2005, less than 10 million died. And that's despite much larger global population." Aw, jeez!

Does he really believe this shit, or is he really that dumb? Or perhaps he thinks we're dumb enough to believe his flawed reasoning. Personally, I think he's really that dumb. Just listen to some of his talks sometime and tell me what you think.

Not even a tech genius so much as a fairly gifted guy at the right place and the right time with the right support (family and friends, etc.). Plus a cold-blooded prick who could care less about other people. Just like so many others, Jobs, Zuck, Geithner and Dimon. It's a long long list.

When there's hope on the horizon finally, it doesn't hurt to laugh a little. That's great you tweeted that rant for others to see.

If I had a working color printer, I'd strongly consider printing up some flyers for October. I'd include pictures of those rat tumors and pictures of those pig stomachs showing the severe inflammation. That would be an eye-opener.

I won't be able to do it right now. Nor will I forget, because Monsanto will be at the forefront of my mind for a while. I'm still getting into finding stuff to put on this post so I won't be forgetting.

Hell - no need to make a big production - not right away - just send in the link and tell em why they might be interested in posting it in a news letter and later again as an announcement enhancement. You can always add to the 1st contact.

Good - the sooner you share the link ( IMO ) the better - like you said - " When there's hope on the horizon finally, it doesn't hurt to laugh a little. " and the link is inspiring as it presents the absurdity of corp(se)oRAT thinking as well as provides horror at the insight as to how they think - and - So - affirmation as to the major need in continuing protest.

The toughest thing to do, is to convince people, that together, we can all make a difference.

Absolutely - so as I see you doing here ( and I am sure also in person ). I also try to show individuals as opportunity presents itself - smarter ways to spend their money - as well as businesses to avoid.

It's war, but to say that to people, they think I'm a nutter. Best to address the issues one at a time. Looks like the prez is under fire over the Monz protection act. There's hope on the horizon again.

Yep - it's best to let em figure out the fact of the war for themselves and just provide good reasoning as to why they might want to consider doing things a bit differently. As they get educated a bit at a time about better options to take - they then also tend to ask questions of their own as to why this is. Then one can provide or point to further information for them to consider - as you never challenged beliefs they might not even be aware of having - they are likely to take a look.

Mono-cropping is a purely profit-driven business model. It runs counter to centuries of trial and error which have shown that crop rotation and allowing a field to remain fallow for a season are efficient methods of controlling weeds and pests.

Yeah, something big to grab the media's attention would be great. Some thing impossible to ignore.

And it'll be practically impossible to lose the 'right-winger" label on this forum. That's their favorite thing when they take a dislike to someone. Hell, Renneye and shadz both have been accused of that, and they don't even LIVE in this country, for Christ's sake. Sheesh!

I'm not sure what your point is. I really don't have any control over who does or doesn't comment on a thread seeing as it's an open forum, nor do I have the ability to remove comments, since I'm not a moderator. So lemme scroll thru here and see what we can see. From top to bottom, we got shadz, middleaged, Builder, Renneye, DKA, BradB, Ache4Change, Odin, Matt, LeoYo, Tiki/TropDep, Fiona4ever, doitagain, fourourfutures, Nevada1, itsmyblood, Kavatz and windyacres (I left out three usernames that are probably Trashy stirring up trouble). That looks like about three-quarters of the forum to me. Hell, I can only think of six or eight people off the top of my head that didn't comment here.

And I didn't do a physical count, but as I scrolled thru it looks like the person who commented the most times, second after me of course, would be you, by far.

So, just curious DK, what exactly is your point? I'm just curious because this seemed like a pretty perplexing comment.

The ....TwinkleTeam... called shadz66 a "right wing" shill? I was sure he was part of them. He always defends their actions here? I could be wrong I guess. But, as you know, Iv'e been pretty much on target the whole time. Remember how I was one of the first to attack DKAtoday by collapsing her comments when she first arrived. I could smell her Democrat co-optiong strategy from the very beginning. Too bad jart wasn't so sharp.

Everyone needs to stand up and demand better proper moderation. A lot of people seem scared to be banned or something.

What happened to the other anarchist - struggleforfreedom guy? Did the ...TwinkleTeam... ban him too like they ban all the anarchists here? (see PeterPropotkin and Odin bans)

So Trashy, ''I was sure'' your head was up your ass ... and I was right !!!

I have far more evidence to call you ''right wing'', based on your past Pro-Monsanto, Pro-GMO, Pro-Bilderberg, Pro-SOPA; Pro-Po-Po; virulent anti-Black-Bloc; reactionary; snide and divisive comments and your constant corrosive attacks on this forum !!

You know very well how to use trigger words and phrases against OWS and the only Twinkleteam (a meme you're desperate to plant) are you and your bots, which have driven the mods here to twitchy occasional overreactions !

Democrap co-option is always going to be an on going issue here and we counter it well in the main but your hysteria comes from a different, deeper, divisive, disruptive, dishonest, deceitful and darker place.

You are a dissembler par excellance & we can believe Nothing you say & you're trying to infect another thread with your b-s now right ? Well I won't waste this comment without adding some relevant links on this important thread :

All are relevant here - unlike you and from the 3rd (middle link) : ''After enjoying a year of maximum profits, record stock prices, the defeat of a major GMO labeling campaign in California, pro-industry court decisions, and a formidable display of political power in Washington, D.C. – including slipping the controversial Monsanto Protection Act into the Federal Appropriations bill in March - the Biotech Bully from St. Louis now finds itself on the defensive. --- It is no exaggeration to say that Monsanto has now become the most hated corporation in the world.''

I have far more evidence to call you ''right wing'', based on your past Pro-Monsanto, Pro-GMO, Pro-Bilderberg, Pro-SOPA; Pro-Po-Po; virulent anti-Black-Bloc; reactionary; snide and divisive comments and your constant corrosive attacks on this forum !!

lol

what's SOPA and Bildrberg ?

I think there's a twinkle team on the gLee forum

they're not my ninjas. they don't talk to me

Monsanto doesn't plan to apply for the approval of new genetically modified seeds in Europe due to low demand from farmers and stiff opposition from the general public, the U.S. agricultural company's German spokeswoman said Sunday.

hmm
too bad that won't make the copyright invalid

It is no exaggeration to say that Monsanto has now become the most hated corporation in the world.

''Environmental advocates are once again suing the Obama administration to stop the farming of genetically engineered crops in national wildlife refuges, this time in five refuges in four Midwestern states.'' from :

''Worldwide bee population decline has motivated recent action by governments and activists. On April 29, the European Union announced a two-year suspension of three neonicotinoid insecticides, or "neonics," that pose "high acute risk" to bees.'' from :

What’s worse, the FDA hasn’t even bothered to test this laboratory creation as a new product. Instead the agency will likely approve it as “Generally Regarded As Safe”.

As the first major use of synthetic biology in our food, synbio vanilla could set a dangerous precedent and open the floodgates to allow more synthetic, genetically engineered ingredients labeled as “natural”.

If we can get the message through to food companies, then we can help end this dangerous experiment with nature and our food before it begins.

And if all of this wasn’t bad enough, this new synbio vanilla could speed rainforest destruction, and harm sustainable farmers and poor communities that rely on rainforest-raised vanilla beans to survive.

Thanks, DK, for all your help on this thread. It's truly turning into an all-out food war, isn't it? One wonders, where will it end?

You and LeoYo must have been reading my mind. I was just talking to Renneye in a PM late last night about wanting to return to this post and add my 40-odd new links to the conversation. I guess this means I should get off my lazy ass and do my job, eh? ;-)

And it goes without saying, the petition has been signed. Thanks again, and by all means, keep posting here as you hear any new developments.

Very true about keeping the important issues in circulation. Especially with the upcoming March on Monsanto protest coming up in less than two months, which coincides beautifully with World Food Day. Not surprisingly Facebook removed the M-O-M post. Did you see that? Internet censorship is getting serious, it seems.

And I was just trying to find a paper related to LeoYo's post right above here, and using Google I got the usual "404" message, but had no trouble finding numerous pages about it when I went thru Giburu. Censorship in cases like this should be illegal, damn it.

Yes, I would say that protecting global food is definitely a major issue that will inevitably affect everyone if we don't stop them. Although it is looking increasingly difficult, given that Monsanto just announced their $31 million expansion.

However, they must be feeling some heat if they are managing to get help from Facebook to scrub the site of protest.

"Monsanto Company today announced the completion of a $31 million expansion at its vegetable seed research headquarters in Woodland, Calif. The expansion, which included the building of a 90,000 square-foot state-of-the-art laboratory and office building, makes the location Monsanto’s primary site for molecular breeding of vegetable seeds. The expansion, unveiled today during a special open house, also makes Woodland’s lab the largest of its kind in the world for vegetable seed health testing."

Thanks Fiona. And thanks for the link. Chances are that expansion has been in the works for a while now, definitely before May's March on Monsanto, which seems to coincide with the beginning of Monsanto's recent 10% drop in share price. I imagine having Zuck scrub the MOM post from FB is damage control because of all this, so I imagine Mon is feeling some heat. Let's try and keep it up, okay? Next stop, October!

I've never done FB and never will. And as bad as the censorship is getting over there, they're just shooting themselves in the foot. I clicked on a FB link a few minutes ago on another thread and while I was scrolling down the page, someone else mentioned having their page called "World Wide Freedom" removed. WTF?

FB has no credibility in my book. You're right, just another owned commodity now, and nothing but a corporate tool. Let's hope people wise up to the fact.

I came across a page yesterday, but unfortunately didn't bookmark it. It was talking about someone in Germany (and therefore outside of US censorship) developing a new website for activists. It's only in the alpha stage, but that's what the web really needs, I think.

FB almost collapsed when they went public - something about the users feeling betrayed - well how do you think they feel now? FB can go belly-up at any time - easier now as they have stock that can tank when they start losing their users - bye buy operational capital.

There's also the suspicions about something 'funny' going on during that IPO, but I don't recall the details. Something about price manipulation, I think. And I'll bet those insiders who shorted it over the weekend made an absolute killing.

Heheheh, I sure hope so, I really can't stand that fucker. I'm no fan of arrogant, thieving back-stabbers. You know, the older he gets the more he looks like Bill Gates. All that's missing are the spec's.

Definitely not. That would be a fairly long list. The characters you just mentioned, plus the Koch boys, Gates and Zuck. Hell, those LeoYo articles from Truthout, that multi-part series that named names. Put all those damn names on the lists.

Edit: they brought Twinkies back? Heheh, it serves them dumb bastards right that paid $50 bucks a box for them last year.

Yeah, true, but let's hope we do a better job of selection that those Frenchmen did. I'd hate for too many innocents to lose their heads. Who really deserves it would be a bit subjective though. I'm sure there are some good bankers and 0.01%'ers out there, and we might need them after the 'purge.'

The purge I think is ABSOLUTELY necessary - though I don't think it has to be deadly - but there will always be those that to shut them down - will require force - because they will not be willing to step down as required - also due to the fact of their crimes - they may figure it better to be killed quickly rather then be taken.

"The only ones who really have not caught on to that fact - " Americans losing faith in MSM " - is the MSM and those who by time on it."

Yep, but what do they have as an alternative? It's like being on a sinking ship in shark-infested waters, with no lifeboats or vests. It's like Jeff Bezos buying the Washington Post. WTF? Good luck with buying that dinosaur, Jeffy.

You know, the Pulitzer family owned the St. Louis Post Dispatch for over 125 years and when they sold it in 2005, I thought WTF? Now I see it was an incredibly shrewd move.

Now the Kochs are trying to pick-up News Papers. Why? one might wonder. I mean the printed word is dead - right? Well except for those who do not have a computer or perhaps a TV ( or ) have lost faith in TV and remember that the News Paper used to have integrity. Anyway MSM and those who buy time on it do not want to believe that they have hit the public with the silly stick way to often - so they are trying to ignore the facts and go on as usual.

That certainly is a strange move for people so supposedly business savvy. I wonder if they know something we don't? I can't see it being a smart move, though, it's an obsolete business model, right?

But then, owning a newspaper used to be a sign of prestige a looong time ago, and two things the Kochs and Bezos have is way too much money. And they aren't paper men, either, so I'm thinking they're just being arrogant, short-sighted and frivolous. Look at Microsoft. It's still a successful company but they've missed the boat and been behind the times on a number of occasions. The Internet, social media and open-source come to mind.

Yep - old marketing study showed people will buy a name brand that is more expensive than try a generic which is just as good or better in quality. And like I said - how many people look into ownership and possible agendas?

There needs to be a lot more of this shit pop up. And a lot more spreading the word on the dangers of GM crops and industrial monoculture. I need to get a hold of a decent printer so I can print out a bunch of flyers for October's march.

Yeah, I noticed that censorship of the first march this last May. Five news channels here and only one even covered it, but that's not surprising considering the world headquarters is here. Honestly, I'm surprised even one channel covered it. It's just my luck too, because I had it programmed in to watch later and a ball game ran over and the broadcast cut out right before the coverage. That sucked big-time, because I was curious about how they were going to spin it.

Gotta love that sarcasm, hc. I thought I saw a YT video recently with a Hudes interview, where she was saying something about the World Bank trying to ease the crash to make the transition less traumatic and something about transitioning back to an asset-backed system. I'll have to hunt it down.

I'd heard of this Epicyte story when I was doing the original research for this post, and even watch a YouTube clip on it. Monsanto, of course, claims there's no truth to the rumor and recently said so on their new pro-GMO website, not that they can be believed.

I definitely believe that large-scale monoculture should be dismantled and that farmers should return to the traditional, time-tested techniques including crop rotation. I also see a great need for these urban gardens popping up around the country as the market for organically-grown foodstuffs has risen steadily since at least 2000 and industry experts are forecasting steady growth of 9 percent or higher.

And as the battle against GMOs increases, I imagine the demand for organic will steadily increase from here on.

Despite common industry claims that genetically engineered crops decrease pesticide use, farmers have continued to turn to increased usage of chemicals on GE crops to combat the growing emergence of resistant pests, also known as "superbugs". Chemical comapnies that sell soil insecticides used on corn crops have seen profits increase by as much as 100% over the past two years. Read More >>

Governor Paul LePage has announced he will sign LD 718, a bill voted through by Maine's House and Senate in June to require labeling of genetically engineered foods. The signing of the bill will be delayed until early next year, however, to allow the state to prepare for any potential lawsuits that may arise. More than 26 states have introduced similar legislation this year, signaling a surge in momentum for the food transparency movement. "Consumers in Massachusetts will demand the same right to know as consumers in Maine and Maryland," said Scott Faber, Executive Director of Just Label It. Read More >>

Forbes contributor Kevin Coupe offers a refreshing perspective on the GMO labeling debate, and the importance of transparency. While he identifies as a biotechnology supporter, he argues that "people who do not want to consume GMOs deserve as much consideration as people who want to keep Kosher, people with wheat allergies who need to stay away from gluten, or people with nut allergies." Read More >>

One of the most complex topics expected to be discussed in trade negotiations between the United States and the European Union, beginning this week, is restrictions on genetically engineered crops. The United States' wide acceptance of GE crops differs greatly from the E.U.'s precautionary approach to biotechnology, where many countries ban GMOs and all require labeling. While many hope Europe will continue to remain a reference point for food transparency, some expect that the U.S. could push Europe to loosen its standards. Read More >>

We're building a movement of concerned citizens – parents, health care workers, small business owners, farmers, and more – who care about what's in the food we eat.

In October 2011, the Just Label It campaign was formed when the Center for Food Safety filed a petition with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to require the labeling of all foods produced using genetic engineering. Days later, we asked citizens from around the country to join us and tell the FDA to "Just Label It." More than 1.2 million Americans have contacted to the FDA urging them to label genetically engineered foods. Ask others to sign on at www.JustLabelIt.org/takeaction.

It's what is attached to the biotech issue that is surprising me. People are going way back in the history of crop and food control, and looking at all kinds of misinformation being bandied about by the corp-controlled media.

What used to be purely the chant of alternate lifestylers is becoming mainstream information for the masses.

I doubt if it will, at least globally. It seems like there's growing discontent sprouting up all over and it's a race between the forces of darkness and the forces of light, literally. That might sound a bit cheesy but I think it's pretty much accurate.

Hmmm, interesting theory. I thought I had a link about the hidden meaning behind that movie, but I couldn't find it. Might have been on the old computer, unfortunately. And it's been a long time since I watched it. You've piqued my curiosity again. ;-)

The scene where the alien is conveying his mission telepathically to the president, saying that they are moving from planet to planet, raping the resources, and laying waste to the populations and planet.

I vaguely remember the movie, but sure don't remember much about it. I remember the White House getting blasted to bits, but that's a no-brainer since it's one of the scenes always shown.

Spielberg? Let's see, a quick check over at IMDb . . . nah, Roland Emmerich. And a quick check of his name . . . . it seems he has a thing for disaster movies. Also did 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow. And Independence Day 2. Hell, I didn't even know they did a sequel.

It's what is attached to the biotech issue that is surprising me. People are going way back in the history of crop and food control

We need to look at the past to see the beginning of this mess - the 1st wheat that had gluten resistant to digestion was bred decades ago - and has only gotten worse over time and research adding other plants ( and animals ) along the way.

Did you know that just 20 ml of wheatgrass juice is the nutritional equivalent of over one kg of fresh fruit and vegetables. It really is that simple. Wheatgrass juice is a living food. Wheat grass has only about 10-15 calories per teaspoon. It has no fat or cholesterol. It has nearly a gram of protein per teaspoon and includes all eight of the essential amino acids, as well as 13 of the remaining 16. The amino acids it doesn't contain are easily made within the body. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. The body uses these amino adds for, things like building muscle tissue, repairing cells...

I like the sounds of that. Give this a quick look-see when you get a minute and let me know if it sounds good, not including using the blender. I'd go with the mortar and pestle myself unless you have the better plan:

Putting a drop in your eye stings a tiny bit, but after a couple of minutes, you'll find a little green drop formed on your tear duct, with all the dust motes that were floating over your cornea trapped within. The whites of your eye will be clear as a bell.

Snorting it clears your sinuses, and the fine membrane in your nasal passages absorbs the nutrients straight into your bloodstream to the brain.

You can also use the pulp from the juicing process as a poultice over scar tissue, to aid in healing.

Chronic cancer patients can take the juice as a suppository, for even faster absorption into the bloodstream.

If your system is toxic, the juice can make you feel nauseous at first. Persevere. It's really worth it.

Wow. It definitely sounds like a super food. Guaranteed I'll be looking into this further. I've been doing what I can over the last nine months or so to learn more about healthy eating and such. Renneye has been a wealth of info for me, since she's gluten-intolerant and has learned volumes over years.

Again replying here. Grow it in the sink cupboard, while it's sprouting, and move it to a windowsill when it's growing. It probably has a high tolerance to cold, but you can stop it growing by putting it in the fridge.

Takes about a week to ten days to reach optimum height, so I plant a fresh tray every two to three days. This really is a super-food. If you study the juice under a scanning electron microscope, apart from the core nucleus, which is magnesium, the structure is exactly the same as human blood, which has iron as the nucleus.

Green vampires. LOL. You take a drop on your fingertips, and touch them to your eyes, and snort a drop or two as well. Sounds weird, but this is such a great start to your day.

Wash the seed, and then soak overnight in water. This soak water ends up full of acidopholous cultures that can be used for making seed cheeses or nut yoghurts, or just drink it. Very nice pleasant flavour.

Spread the seed on sandy soil (or old towel) in shallow trays, like oven baking trays, and put in a dark place until the seeds have sprouted. Bring it out into the light, and when it's about six inches tall, cut off with scissors, and use it.

You can get a second use, but then you feed it to your worms, or compost it, or I like to turn it upside-down, and use it as mulch around my tomato bushes.

In my opinion, it's both. The monopolization of crop resources is definitely a cause of great concern, but so is the damaging health effects of GMOs.

Also, the entire concept of monoculture should be a focus. The very reason there's a perceived need for more pesticides is a direct result of this. For centuries, crop rotation has been fairly effective in keeping the pests at bay. It was the shift to monoculture that exacerbated it. My opinion is farmers need to go back to rotation every couple years.

The poisoning of the soil, essentially rendering it inert in terms of nutrients and beneficial microbes, and the poisoning of water from runoff is a serious problem as well. The entire business model is flawed.

If it has a poison inserted into its DNA, like with Bt, then it is about poisons. You also have the poison that's sprayed onto the plant. Not all of it washes off, so people ingest it, plus the over-spray and runoff poison the ground and often enter the water.

~ "The laboratory tests were run between March and May 2013 on urine samples from volunteers in 18 countries across the European Union. On average, 44% of the samples contained glyphosate. The proportion of glyphosate found in the samples varied between countries, with Malta, Germany, the UK and Poland having the most positive tests, and lower levels detected in Macedonia and Switzerland.

The volunteers who were tested and provided samples all live in cities. None of them had handled or used glyphosate products in the run-up to the tests. Monsanto is the largest producer of glyphosate, and the corporation sells it under the brand name “Roundup.” "~

And the mountain of evidence grows. It seems like there's enough to, at the very least, halt the release of any new seeds, but once again as usual, they're one step ahead of the rubes and had the feds sneak that law thru.

That link up top from Scientific American says traces have shown up in embryonic and placental tissues also. How much damage is being done by that? A quote:

"But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells."

Any pesticide containing glyphosate and POEA should be immediately pulled from the market pending studies of the true effects of these chemicals, and especially these so-called 'inert ingredients' that industry claims are harmless. POEA is considered an inert ingredient.

Yep, I'd heard it was pending. I don't think I heard it had passed. It's like a running battle, isn't it? The bastards keep staying one step ahead. That's what happens when you can buy the government. It's going to be a tough battle, and even if some sort of moratorium would ensue, on either the GMO's or the chemicals, it will still take years to get this shit off the market.

Yeah, the EPA. They're like one of the Mafia's "Five Families," along with the FDA, Congress, probably the Chamber of Commerce.

Weird! I was just thinking earlier today about the role of the Chamber of Commerce. There's that synchronicity again.

Getting it off the market could be easier than we think. That's up to us. We don't have to buy the stuff, so its a matter of sharing the damning information with as many people as we can. Look what we're doing here! Look what "Moms Across America" is doing!

Yep, a tough battle, is right. That's why we have to hit them from 'all angles'!

Yep, that's the best way. Just don't buy it whenever possible. It would be difficult for most in the beginning considering how prevalent it is, but if the protest gets big enough, some smart businessmen should step up, recognizing a growing market. If I were the owner of a place like Whole Foods for example, I'd be paying VERY close attention to this subject.

If I were so inclined and had the capital, I'd consider jumping on it. I foresee a potentially booming business in the coming years. Depending on how big an impact Moms Across America makes, think of the business right there. GMO-free baby food.

Interesting development, 'G'. As posted by BradB, today, and cross posted here for further sharing.

~ "What a testament to what can be done when people come together globally under the umbrella of a common cause. Almost without exception, GMOs are a concern for everyone.

The request of a 5 year suspension is a most reasonable one, given the preliminary data...not only to further test GMOs, but to assess social questions regarding the life altering implications of global corporate control of our food supply.

One has to wonder if Monsanto's certain knowledge that this was coming, is the reason they recently bought the despicable 'Blackwater'."~

Hey Ren. That would be an amazing development . . . except, as near as I can tell that letter is dated in 2000. There's nothing on that i-sis page that suggests this is something new, sadly. Hopefully I missed something in which case I hope someone can point it out to me. It'd be great if this is something new.

What it does suggest to me, though, is just as bad, or worse. It means that despite the warnings from over 800 scientists from around the world (13 fucking years ago!!), this shit is being pushed everywhere. It means the dangers not only to our health but to sustainability were covered up by Big Ag and their bought-off minions in DC. This truly suggests a crime against humanity, because everything now publicly coming to light, horizontal gene transfer, low crop yields, health concerns, etc. were all known back then!

Honey Badger is a bad-ass - Honey Badger Knows what it can handle. If GMO improves nutrition - improves digestability - does not mess with altering the Human condition other then to provide healthy sustenance - then GMO can be judged to be good - but when it does alter the human physiology ( not for the better ) when it adds poison to the bodies of those eating it - when it is not sustainable in and of itself - WELL THEN - IT IS NOT GOOD

That's exactly what it should be, better in every conceivable way. These fuckers are just so greedy and short-sighted it's beyond their capabilities to see any further into the future past the first big payoff. Then when they see the money, all thoughts about long-term safety, or viability are no longer considered. Only profitability.

That's why I was pretty surprised to hear what the Pope said a while back that was in that Wikileaks document shadz linked. It's rare to see someone in a high position of power talking some sense for a change.

Hmmm, I certainly haven't seen that, so I did a little checking. Apparently the technology has been around for over 10 years, but it was hard to find out much about it, though, short of this Ireland Independent article. They sound like lofty claims, but I remain optimistic since it does seem to have some credible endorsements. Here's Vi-Aqua's website:

Thanks Gno. It's obvious to me in my gardening and seed-raising experience, that rainwater is so much better than tapwater. Even stored rainwater seems so much better for getting seeds to germinate, and bringing "sad" plants back to life.

If you go to their website and click the 'order' button, you're required to give your name and telephone number and an order rep will contact you within "two business days."

So they want to get you on the phone so they can give you the sales pitch. It's typical, but I'm not willing to do that just to tell them I'm not interested (I am, but no disposable funds). You know how those people can be, since they work on commission. They're pretty insistent.

Also on their site, there is a tab you can click that talks about test results. It mentions a test done from March to May 2001. I wonder if that's a typo and they meant 2010?

I've bookmarked it. I'm curious, but since I started using worm juice on the garden weekly, I'm not needing anything else. I do use some seaweed mulch, for trace elements, but seriously, for a small-scale food garden, the best investment I've ever made was 75 shekels for an established worm farm.

I've heard earthworms are one of the best things you can do for a garden.

I'm going to keep this Vi-Aqua idea in the back of my mind and if I hear anything else, I'll let you know, just to satisfy your curiosity. I tried clicking on the "Vi-Aqua.com" website and got a pop-up warning of a malicious url. Needless to say it'll be a day or two before I try again.

Actually, if you've got a healthy soil, with a good mulch cover, it's probably best to just stick-rake to rip the weeds out.

I'm currently at war with the local council over their practice of raking up the seaweed off our local beaches. The govt declares all these frigging marine parks, where you can't fish, and then allows the council to destroy the start of the food chain.

This is one war that I'm seriously going to win.

↥twinkle ↧stinkle permalink

Very good point - disc-ing is basically needed for poor soil and if I remember correctly was originally used to mix mulch into the poor soil to leaven it and allow to get a healthy soil cycle started.

What we need to remember is, broad-scale, or mono-culture, is as young as our industrial age. Lots of mistakes have been made, and continue to be made.

↥twinkle ↧stinkle permalink

OH I also forgot to mention - besides soil run off erosion - there is also standing water in the spring keeping farmers out of the fields for planting as it is too wet and then later on - the soil dries out fast because of poor water penetration into/through the soil.

Yeah and all of this stuff is pretty basic - known to real farmers for decades and decades.

OH - and that disc-ing problem? Not as much of a problem - if you got a healthy population of worms moving through the soil.

Actually, if you've got a healthy soil, with a good mulch cover, it's probably best to just stick-rake to rip the weeds out.

I'm currently at war with the local council over their practice of raking up the seaweed off our local beaches. The govt declares all these frigging marine parks, where you can't fish, and then allows the council to destroy the start of the food chain.

Yeah, castings are basically manure, that is already broken down. Healthy topsoil is alive with various bacterium and nutrients.

Much different to chemically altered paddocks used for monoculture. That stuff is dead. Literally lifeless.

↥twinkle ↧stinkle permalink

Really dead as the chemically treated soil/crops kills the worms - so the soil does not get aerated either - and as seasons pass the nutrients get bleached out of the soil while all but a few inches of the top soil ( which gets turned mechanically - compacts more and more as the life that used to keep it aerated and fertile has been killed off.

OOOPs - almost forgot - this compacted soil is problematical in another way - as it does not absorb water as efficiently either = run off soil erosion.

I'm not sure B - but I think - the worm juice? - well - that is the water washing the worm excrement into your collection pale. As not only do worms aerate the soil - but in doing that the soil passes through the worm the passed soil contains the worm excrement.

I just got finished watching that short clip. I'll keep it for future reference, too. I'm guessing the "worm juice" in the bottom is formed naturally by the worms working on the kitchen scraps. You don't need to add any water, right? Sometimes YT clips on my machine tend to be a bit jumpy and it's possible I missed a sentence or two, that's why I usually watch them more than once. The first time thru, it completely skipped the line "rain-proof lid" and only showed "rain."

The instructions say to pour a four-gallon bucket of water over the top tray, once a week. It doesn't seem to matter if you miss a few days, but that water drains through all the trays, and out the tap at the bottom. I just leave the tap open, and keep a bucket under that tap.

It's really simple, and not at all stinky. I'm used to handling fish emulsion, which used to be cheap, but like all things gardening, is now getting expensive. The worm farm is a one-off expense that generates more fertiliser than I could use on a suburban block.

Thanks for placing this article here, K. I do appreciate it. I originally made this post as a reference for all things Monsanto and pretty soon, I'll probably go thru the whole thread and gather all the links and put them all near the top. That way they'll be there for anyone to read that might not feel like reading the whole thread. Thanks again, Kavatz. It gives me incentive to go thru the other two dozen links I've saved recently and put them here as well. Did I mention I'm a bad procrastinator, heheh?

I tend to agree. While getting money out of politics is important, that's going to be an extremely difficult battle. World revolution is festering and growing as we speak, we just need to get people in this country to get their asses going on it. And killing Monsanto is something everyone of us can do, starting immediately.

But getting back to your link, there's something oddly suspicious about how that all went down, isn't there? You'd think with the serious bee problem we're having, the IDofA would have been helping Mr. Ingram, but instead, they unilaterally destroyed his hives, ruining 15 years of bee research. There's much more to that story, I believe.

We'll find a way to convince a small group to drop all current activities and focus on one point.

I imagine the message of the group will be along these lines:
"After many decades fighting surface issues, the same battles and victories over and over again, we realize these are just symptoms of one thing. As atrocious as the symptoms are, attacking (or defending from) them is a mistake. A better strategy is to attack the root with complete focus and control.
Scattered, we make noise. United and focused, we make evolution."

Employees are paid and assets can be acquired, but no owner profits can be made. That's my understanding.

You need to register the organization to get a status permitting donations, and show how profits are dispersed.

Again, it's been a long time since I looked into it, and there are different rules across borders.

We would have to define the purpose and goals in an acceptable way. Not sure how accepting authorities would be of a charitable organization intending to enlighten the public and cause world revolution.

Maybe the vision is unity for world peace and understanding. To show the world that our ordinary citizens have no dispute with foreign peoples, do not support war, and have no control in this regard.

"I realized it doesn't need to be nonprofit. It can be another 99% Conglomerate Subsidiary, incorporated, like a franchise. People going door to door are providing a service. Your car becomes a business expense, and all the other tax advantages corporations get."

Heheh, I kinda thought you might have been leading me down that path, you sneaky bastard. Just kidding, keep that fertile mind active, K. You think outside the box and that's a good thing.

I think you're right about the basics of non-profits, that workers get a paycheck, but owners can't profit directly. That does make a lot of sense.

One promising thing is that, to my understanding, most (but not all, of course) citizens of foreign countries recognize the difference between the feelings of US people and the policies of our government. And I think regular people, the working stiffs anyway, realize we have a lot in common with each other in regards to the big problems facing humanity.

Check out that Hedges interview I just posted. We could discuss it there. He mentions making the 'powers that be,' including corporations, scared of a united front. And if I had to choose a target, I'd pick Monsanto for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the undue power they now wield not only over us, but in government. If we could get Monsanto to fall (as far as GMOs anyway), that would send a strong message. And there's already millions against that corporate beast already, so we have the numbers.

I realized it doesn't need to be nonprofit. It can be another 99% Conglomerate Subsidiary, incorporated, like a franchise. People going door to door are providing a service. Your car becomes a business expense, and all the other tax advantages corporations get.

Dear Supporters,
THANK YOU for making this 4th of July the BEST EVER!!!
We estimate, with some parades reporting 1-2,000 onlookers and others 10-15,000, at 177 parades that we reached about 1 million people directly and tens of millions by word of mouth and media.

I was just wondering about this yesterday. It looks like it was a pretty good success for a first outing. Hmmm, I wonder what kind of effect it would have on Monsanto if they're constantly being hammered by marches and lawsuits?

That was a coup, wasn't it? They knew things were reaching a boiling point and had to do something. I almost admire the cunning. A lot of them are despicable but they sure are some smart motherf##ers, I'll give 'em that.

A string of victories over the past few weeks has turned the tide for the "Right To Know" Movement. From state labeling wins in Connecticut and Maine, and a passing vote to label GE salmon by the Senate Appropriations Committee, to Chipotle voluntarily labeling its ingredients and a new, verified non-GMO label for meat products, it's simply a matter of time before GMO labeling becomes standard. "I think companies are starting to realize the fight is worse than the label," said Scott Faber, Executive Director of Just Label It. Read More >>

After seeing a recent headline announcing that the EPA was considering raising the level of glyphosate allowed in pesticide use, AllergyKids founder Robyn O'Brien shared an expert's opinion on the already pertinent dangers of increased chemical use. According to plant biologist Dr. Don Huber, U.S. levels of glyphosate are already toxic; Canada's tolerable levels are 58 times lower than those in the United States, and Europe's are even lower. Read More >>

For the first time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a non-GMO label verifying that meat and liquid egg products meet the requirements of the Non-GMO Project's third party certification. As the consumer demand for non-GMO products has increased, many meat companies began seeking a verified non-GMO claim for their products, only to find that the USDA's Food Inspection Service had no such rule. After more than a year of the USDA reviewing the Non-GMO Project's processes, a verfied label is now available to a new segment of the food industry. Read More >>

A recent decision to award the World Food Prize to three chemical company executives issued a strong response from a network of global food leaders. In a statement by the 81 councillors of the World Future Council, they acknowledged that honoring biotechnology betrays the the purpose of the World Food Prize, a prestigious award in food and agriculture, which is to emphasize "the importance of a nutritious and sustainable food supply for all people." Read More >>

We're building a movement of concerned citizens – parents, health care workers, small business owners, farmers, and more – who care about what's in the food we eat.

In October 2011, the Just Label It campaign was formed when the Center for Food Safety filed a petition with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to require the labeling of all foods produced using genetic engineering. Days later, we asked citizens from around the country to join us and tell the FDA to "Just Label It." More than 1.2 million Americans have contacted to the FDA urging them to label genetically engineered foods. Ask others to sign on at www.JustLabelIt.org/takeaction.

Excellent addition to the thread DK. Perhaps the tide's beginning to turn. Now if only more farmers would get with the program and start rejecting Monsanto and Co., we'd see things pick up some steam. Especially in light of the fact that all the promises made about GMOs, increased yields, reduced pesticides and such, have turned out to be false. I imagine in the early days a lot of the claims were sincere, like increased yields, but I'm convinced the claim of reduced pesticides was an out-and-out lie. How would the development of a plant that can tolerate higher doses of chemicals reduce the need for those chemicals? Makes no sense to this layman.

Parents are reacting hugely to the inclusion of GMO ingredients in baby formula and other infant foods. It's a movement that is waking up people to the BS that they are fed in the media on a daily basis.

Yeah, there's growing evidence linking GMOs and childhood asthma, allergies and possibly autism. Let's keep our fingers crossed, B, because any win for the people against a behemoth like Monsanto might set a precedent of sorts.

The game, as you know, is rigged, and just like the mons protection act, it's just one more move in the chess game. Population control is clearly on the agenda, and people who used to laugh in my face when I spoke of this, are now paying close attention.

"The CSIRO have been accused of a close relationship with Monsanto that has led to the increase in genetically modified crops. The GM Wheat was proposed and approved while two directors of Nufarm – the exclusive distributor of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready products in Australia – were serving on the board of CSIRO."

Cancer is definitely an apt comparison. Part of the cure is spreading the knowledge. I live in Monsanto's hometown and birthplace and was completely unaware of any of this until I came to this website. As shadz would say, "knowledge is power."

Now there's an idea. I wonder if there's some sort of breach of contract issue that could be used. The fact that they signed a contract under false pretenses. Guess we'd have to read the fine print.

I'd like to see some facts and figures to see if American farmers have indeed seen a profit as a direct result of GE seeds, as is claimed. Or have our farmers seen the same dismal results as the farmers in India. There's no doubt the Indian farmers were hoodwinked.

Another Exceptional forum post 'G'! Truly! What an incredible resource!!

A new Monsanto lawsuit. Power to him!!

~ June 28, 2013 - "A Kansas farmer is suing Monsanto Co. for gross negligence after last week’s discovery of a strand of the company’s experimental Roundup Ready genetically engineered wheat in an Oregon field caused global prices to plunge"...

~ June 28, 2013 - Wheat Contamination - UPDATE 1-"(Reuters) - Monsanto Co's unapproved, experimental genetically engineered wheat, which is feared to have potentially contaminated U.S. wheat supplies after it was found growing in an Oregon field this spring, was kept in a U.S. government storage facility until at least late 2011, according to documents obtained by Reuters."...

Renneye!! Where the hell have you been? We've missed you, haven't we guys?

"What an incredible resource!!" Why yes, yes it is, heheh. <pats self on back> And it's getting better with all the new links being posted.

Good links, my dear, and let's hope the lawsuits, both here and abroad, keep on coming. If Monsanto takes a hit, it might send a strong message to other mega-corporations and raise some public awareness as to what these companies are doing to the people and the planet.

Lol!! Thanks, 'g'. And yes, you should be proud! Well worth the time it must have taken to put this forum post together, I'm sure.

Yes, I did see about the GM babies. These corporations are, in a word...grotesque.

Well, if Monsanto isn't feeling the pinch by now, and speaking of babies...looks like Monsanto will soon have to contend with a lot of well informed Moms...

~ "Moms Across America Appeal to Monsanto by Publishing an Open Letter and Coordinating Nationwide Events on July 4, 2013"

"These Moms see firsthand that when they take their children off GMOs, and feed them organic food, their symptoms either disappear or dramatically improve.

Today, many people know a child affected by food allergies, asthma, or autism. Moms Across America sees that the future and potential of an entire generation of children is being stolen from them because of the impact to their health from GMOs. This is why the MAA group is publishing an open letter ( http://www.momsacrossamerica.com/open_letter_to_monsanto_from_moms ) to Monsanto, the leading agricultural and chemical corporation in the United States. Historically, such a letter has never been issued by Moms to any corporation in the world, to date."~

That's absolutely kick-ass, Renneye. Monsanto HAS to be feeling the heat considering they're getting hit from all directions; worldwide protests, multi-billion dollar lawsuits, widespread rejection of their poison, including this open letter.

One thing that especially caught my eye was this:

"Did you know that a rash on the outside of the body means inflammation in the stomach, which can lead to stomach cancer?"

I know a number of people with skin rashes, myself included (not to get too personal). Mine has come and gone, but it first started back in, get this, the early '90's. Wow, what an eye-opener.

And this:

"We have seen the recent and new scientific studies on the impact of GMOs and Glyphosate with links to . . . possibly mental illness."

Now, consider this link from the OP:

Springer: Exposure to pesticides leads to degeneration of GABA and dopamine neurons

For those that don't know, GABA and dopamine are neurotransmitters connected to anxiety and depression, both of which have been on the rise.

91% of Americans polled want GMOs labeled, a right already enjoyed by 40% of the world’s population in 49 countries.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not require independent safety studies of genetically engineered foods.

No long-term safety studies exist on either the safety or benefits of GMO ingredients.

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) urges all doctors to prescribe no-GMO diets for their patients.

Many physicians now prescribe non-GMO diets, and people are getting better from a variety of disorders. Livestock taken off GMOs are also getting better. These same disorders, (e.g. reproductive, immune, and GI tract) are the ones that the AAEM identified as common among lab animals fed GMOs, and their incidence has soared in the US population since GMOs were introduced.

What is a GMO? Bacteria and/or virus genes that are forced into the DNA of crops like soy and corn. 80% are engineered to withstand normally deadly doses of herbicides, primarily Monsanto’s Roundup.

GMO corn varieties are also engineered to produce their own toxic insecticide that breaks open the stomach on insects and kills them.

GMO plants either drink poison or produce poison. Roundup and insecticide, now found in the blood of pregnant women and their unborn children, have been found to be extremely dangerous.

In 2012 the AMA called for mandatory premarket safety studies of GMOs.

Consumers Union says labeling may be the only way to determine that the GE process was linked to adverse health effects.

Twenty years ago, Vice President Dan Quayle announced the FDA’s policy on genetically engineered food as part of his ‘regulatory relief initiative’ and held the American biotechnology industry would reap huge profits ‘as long as we resist the spread of unnecessary regulations.’

Dan Quayle’s 1992 policy announcement was premised on the notion, quickly refuted by the FDA’s own scientists, that genetically engineered crops are ‘substantially equivalent’ to regular crops and thus do not need to be labeled or safety tested.

The ‘substantially equivalent’ or GRAS policy was crafted by Michael Taylor, a former Monsanto lawyer who was hired by the Bush FDA to fill the newly created position of deputy commissioner of policy.

The Monsanto Corporation controls 90% of all genetically engineered seeds in the world.

Vice President George H.W. Bush visited a Monsanto lab for a photo op with the developers of Roundup Ready crops. He told them, “Call me. We’re in the dereg businesses. Maybe we can help.”

Non-GMO labels are the fastest growing private label claim.

Millions of dollars were poured into the 2012 opposition campaign in California to defeat Proposition 37, which would have required the labeling of foods containing GMOs.

The final tally of votes as certified by California’s Secretary of State was … 6, 088,714 in favor of Proposition 37 and 6,442,371 against. A scant difference of 353, 657 votes.

GMO Labeling is endorsed by: American Public Health Association, American Medical Students Association, American Academy of Environmental Medicine, Physicians for Social Responsibility, California chapters, California Nurses Association and other leading health organizations.

Excellent links, my dear. Be sure to tell us how the marches went as soon as you hear something, okay?

A couple very telling quotes: "Twenty years ago, Vice President Dan Quayle announced the FDA’s policy on genetically engineered food as part of his ‘regulatory relief initiative’ and held the American biotechnology industry would reap huge profits ‘as long as we resist the spread of unnecessary regulations." And as long as negative health studies were suppressed, obviously. And:

"Dan Quayle’s 1992 policy announcement was premised on the notion, quickly refuted by the FDA’s own scientists, that genetically engineered crops are ‘substantially equivalent’ to regular crops and thus do not need to be labeled or safety tested." Emphasis mine. So, even the FDA knew in 1992 this shit was bogus. I'm almost speechless.

Lingonberries. You tease you. I saw you flirting with her, you little vixen.

But seriously, I'm glad she has a reason for not being here. It'd be sad if she got frustrated with the forum and left for good, like so many others apparently have. Hopefully she'll show back up, she's a good person and a valuable contributor. Smart girl with a lot of life experience, it seems.

Gillian is a great contributor here. Vast & diverse knowledge. Many people here like her input. I'm glad you approve, 'g'...that's my bride-to-be you're talking about.

But I here you clearly about the forum, dear man. It is frustrating...and concerning. The forum is being 'over-moderated', without a doubt. All at once, far too many good people left. That's more than mere coincidence.

For one thing...I wish for transparency. The moderators should be known to everyone here. If we want democratic transparency from governments and corporations like Monsanto, we should expect it with OWS as well.

I get the impression you are (easy there, geeno. Easy), heheh. Bride-to-be. That was quite entertaining, I have to admit. She was good-humored about the whole thing, too. Seems like a good person going thru the same hard times a lot of us find ourselves in.

Yes, it does seem we lost a lot of people in a very short time. For a short while the forum picked up again (a few months ago) and I was getting optimistic that it was going to get back to the good times of old. Then recently, a big die-off. Hmmm. Sad.

And I agree, there should be more transparency. You know, it might be a coincidence, but it seemed to coincide with that "move" to a different server, doesn't it? Makes one wonder. Considering the government is using a program to 'manage' fake online personas, you have to wonder how many of them might not have been real people after all. It might explain the disappearance of VQ, for example. But there I go again, getting all conspiracy theoristy, heheh.

Hopefully the moderators lighten up and let the 'free speech' that should be allowed here to happen. That's the way we'll get the most diverse ideas. I imagine many good ideas have been lost in the abyss of 'removed' comments because they hit some trigger word that prompts an automatic removal. I've never seen so many 'removed' comments, as I have lately. Starting to feel far 'too' controlled.

The forum has gone through many an ebb & flow, hopefully we're just going through a temporary lull.

Oh 'windy', I hope you see this. I ran out of reply buttons, and you have no other posts on this thread that I can tag onto.

Your work here is so important. We need you...Karen Hudes needs you. Please DO NOT leave the forum. We've run into problems before that eventually get worked out.

I've been hoping to appeal to the person who has been putting so much effort into down-voting gnomunny, DKA and Builder on this thread, and others. I just know an understanding of some kind can be reached. Please hang in there with us windy.

I'm headed out for the day. Back later to comment on your Karen Hudes thread!

I hope so, too. And I can't stand seeing the "removed" message. You know my curiosity, so it bugs the hell out of me not to know what was said that got removed. Bugs . . the . . . hell out of me!

That is strange about the sudden disappearance of VQ. Can't say that I've missed him, but it is strange. For someone who so loved being here, it almost has to be something serious to keep him away. Unless he was paid or a bot.

I had no idea what a shadow ban was until it happened to me. A shadow ban is disgusting and shouldn't exist, I almost quit the forum for that reason. I wouldn't like to be banned, but could accept that more than the shadow ban trick.

I see absolutely no reason to tolerate an attacker of OWS and all supporters of making a healthy and prosperous world for ALL - to let them linger on the forum - identify them slap em down and say good bye.

you's the big boy on campus hey? big points so big mouth? you's decide who's da shill? i like occupy and i like reading this forum. i can decide for myself who i wants to read. i don't need no moderation from you big boy so quit it. keep it open and transparent son. every voice matters.

you's wants a world for ALL hey? ALL in big letters. you need to use tiny letters cause you ban every chap that doesn't agrees with ya. ALL as long as ALL agrees with ya. i don't wants a world of censorship like you's do. i really wants a world for ALL.

you's the big boy on campus hey? big points so big mouth? you's decide who's da shill? i like occupy and i like reading this forum. i can decide for myself who i wants to read. i don't need no moderation from you big boy so quit it. keep it open and transparent son. every voice matters.

you's wants a world for ALL hey? ALL in big letters. you need to use tiny letters cause you ban every chap that doesn't agrees with ya. ALL as long as ALL agrees with ya. i don't wants a world of censorship like you's do. i really wants a world for ALL.

I see absolutely no reason to tolerate an attacker of OWS and all supporters of making a healthy and prosperous world for ALL - to let them linger on the forum - identify them slap em down and say good bye.

Yep - how the hell does an unapproved wheat from several years ago end up in someones field ? - this "SHOULD" rip MonSatan a new one - or will be another spectacular failure of our injustice ( um ahem cough justice ) system.

Yes, I think there is a class action suit in the works. It is about time. I think it's ridiculous that Monsanto has been able to sue farmers when Monsanto is at fault for the contamination in the first place. Makes as much sense as suing the police department if they shoot you during an armed robbery.

Five million Brazilian farmers are locked in a lawsuit with US-based biotech giant Monsanto, suing for as much as 6.2 billion euros. They say that the genetic ...
GMO Wheat Lawsuit: Idaho Farmers Sue Monsanto
www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/gmo-wheat-lawsuit-idaho_​n...

Yep! They're psychopaths to be sure. The only thing is, once they have plundered the whole world with their poisons, where do they think they will live with their own families? All the money in the world won't help them when the only place left to live is on the side of some remote mountain.

Apparently that is either not a consideration or they just have not considered that at this point in time - as they are busy at the moment with current programs of conquest and destruction. Perhaps afterwards that will be considered a project to look into - Hey? OOOOPssssss

I did a slight edit in the title of this post. Now when I Google "Monsanto and GMO's" it shows up on the search. Second page yesterday when I tested it. With the old title, I couldn't find it anywhere, but considering the enormous amount of Monsanto pages, it's no surprise. Hmmm, I think I'll go test it again. It needs max coverage.

Awesome links DK, you're kicking ass on this thread. A $5 billion dollar lawsuit in Brazil and a $7.7 billion dollar lawsuit in India! Man, think of the implications if both judges rule in the farmer's favor. Think Monsanto's feeling any heat yet?

It's pretty appalling how the Monsanto Protection Act was slipped thru virtually unnoticed in a last-minute, closed-door deal. A testament to the corruption and underhandedness of our fearless leaders. Not to mention apathy and laziness on the part of Congress. I'll bet not one of them actually read the bill.

Out of a job and facing jail time? Hell Blogboyavitch ( or what ever ) got his nuts burnt over trying to market deals. Right? There really is no difference other than one is state and the other federal.

We can all thank the injustice system we have today. It is just really awesome though that there is a strong resistance being put up against franken foods in other countries. That will help the same cause here - if we can get the public educated.

I'd like to see a win in both cases, but especially in India. What's happening over there is a crime against humanity. They've also had a rash of cows dying after munching on Bt cotton. India may turn out to be ground zero for the anti-GMO movement overseas.

Well if they can get past their class-est system ( maybe those there that consider themselves to be upper class are not as insane as those here ) - cows being considered sacred may just be the key - Hey?

"According to Chinese law, any import containing GMOs must be accompanied by the appropriate environmental and food safety tests conducted by Chinese institutions, not the biotechnology industry. This data is first submitted to the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture for review, and next passed on to the National Biosafety Committee for further review. If said data is eventually deemed adequate and meets strict guidelines, the corresponding shipment will be issued an appropriate safety certificate verifying its integrity and permitting its import.

But none of this was done for any of the GM corn, which had been shipped directly into China by an unnamed U.S. biotechnology company (the name of which you can probably guess). This company apparently tried to bypass Chinese law and sneak its toxic crops and seeds into the country without proper government oversight, which is technically an international human rights violation, knowing that these genetic poisons would likely be rejected if they had to go through the normal import process for GMOs."

Despite some of the pictures and YT clips I've seen of some of the insanity over there, you have to respect the Chinese and give due credit. Hell, they invented practically everything prior to the industrial revolution, it seems. There are some smart cookies over there (there's a joke in there somewhere, heheh).

There are some smart cookies over there (there's a joke in there somewhere, heheh).

Yep - some good advice in those cookies at times. {:-])

China - civilized for over 5,000 years - with medicine and street-lights libraries and everything. They just got severely messed up in their thinking/treatment about the common individual ( familiar story - Hey? )

Actually other than building the GR8 wall to stave off the mongol hordes - it was the British that really made them pull away from the outside world - not just the British - but they were always active in empire building - their empire - look into the Boxer war - that was an uprising against British colonization/rule. Then other foreign countries also tried to follow the British lead in trying to take over trade markets. It was the survival of Hong Kong as a world trade center that kept them from completely closing out the rest of the world.

I see. I'm not up on my Chinese history, but I thought there was a long period when they withdrew and became isolationist, long before the British came into the picture. I'll have to defer to you on this, you sound like you know.

"It was put forward that these cities were built to fuel the economy in building infra-structure - but that it really didn't make sense as the population could not afford to live there. Time will tell the true story."

It's possible they assumed they'd have a need considering China's booming economy a short time ago. I don't think many people knew the crash was going to be as bad as this. And how much was financed by Western banksters who could give a rat's ass whether anyone would ever live there?

As far as I know - they are still building and the cities are still empty. That is so much worse then our foreclosed homes - well not really it is about the same only on a much larger scale. They have the population to fill every square inch of those cities - yet they remain empty.

Quite the secret - Hey? Surprise people - today your benevolent government is giving to each and every one of you a place to live - now thumb your noses at the silly foreigners. Why did we wait so long? Well we wanted to make sure that there was one for everyone.

I've seen the pictures. There was a great photo selection on Business Insider I checked out a month or two ago. Kind of eerie. I'm wondering if there's not some ulterior motive for building them, though. Maybe they know something we don't.

I saw a pretty good video on it awhile ago on the forum. It was put forward that these cities were built to fuel the economy in building infra-structure - but that it really didn't make sense as the population could not afford to live there. Time will tell the true story.

Shrieking little bitch hippies, finding another boogeyman to be frightened of. Now it's GMO's. Approved by AMA and World health organization, but chuckle-head quacks think they will destroy mankind. Another religion, just like the global warming religion. Weak minded liberals...easily duped like sheep..

Conspiracy theory garbage. Scientific study after scientific study shows GMO to be safe. The only danger is when unscientific activists go and destroy crops like golden rice that can save the lives of many people. That is a form of indirect killing.

Who in the fuck would downvote that comment? I'm guessing we have some shills lurking. In fact, as I was thinking about this post, it occurred to me that the surgeon, freemarket5555, was probably a corporate shill. I noticed he disappeared pretty quick.

And yes, EXPAND. I'd like to see this thread load up with links to all things Monsatan.

Hey 'G'...another gift from one of the 'Big Six'. Looks like 'Bayer', this time.

Very troubling indeed. This was posted by shooz today, and needs to be cross posted here, I think.

Over 30,000,000 Bees Found Dead In Elmwood, Canada

~ "Shortly after 50,000 bees were found dead in an Oregon parking lot (read more here), a staggering 37 million bees have been found dead in Elmwood, Ontario, Canada.Dave Schuit, who runs a honey operation in Elmwood has lost 600 hives. He is pointing the finger at the insecticides known as neonicotinoids, which are manufactured by Bayer CropScience Inc."~

Highly disturbing. And this coming hot on the heels of Builder's post about multiple hives lost down under. Indeed a worthy link for this reference post. Thanks for doing shooz's work for him. If you hadn't I would have. Thanks.

Bravo for the EU for finally seeing the writing on the wall. From the 'myscienceacademy.org' link:

Not surprisingly, the UK was one of the member states opposing the ban. It reminds me of the Pusztai affair. Dr. Pusztai speaks out of turn, which prompts a call from Monsanto to President Clinton, Clinton calls Blair, and Pusztai get raked over the coals.

And for those with a scientific bent, the paper referenced in the above link, with links to a few more related studies:

"In March 2013, the American Bird Conservancy published a review of 200 studies on neonicotinoids including industry research obtained through the US Freedom of Information Act, calling for a ban on neonicotinoid use as seed treatments because of their toxicity to birds, aquatic invertebrates, and other wildlife." As readers of this thread are well aware, it's not just the bees that are at stake here.

I wasn't even aware Bayer was part of this group until very recently. It came as a big surprise to me.

It's also pretty telling that Bayer, and Bill Gates for that matter (and I'm sure others equally surprising), have joined in on this. It says a lot about their true aims. When Gates bought half a million shares of Monsanto at a time when the stock wasn't doing all that well proves it's not about the money. It's about the power and control.

I wasn't even aware Bayer was part of this group until very recently. It came as a big surprise to me.

Me either - disgusting isn't it.

It's about the power and control.

And with all that money - who better to afford altruistic actions - worse because it is not considered - actual good actions are not being taken that not only would profit the whole world - but would profit those financing them.

That speaks to the twisted mindset of these individuals. With the obscene wealth of some of these people, Gates and the Waltons for example, they could be doing immense good for the world's less fortunate and still be rich beyond their youthful dreams. But, to hell with the masses, right?

They'll be a day of reckoning for some of them, I think. The growing shift in attitudes about GMO's, globally, is one of the signs. Let's hope it's not too late.

I had considered that. But look at all the people that have the bug man (er, 'person') come in periodically and spray that shit all along the baseboards, kitchen cabinets, basements and backyards. I fucking hate pesticides. You know what's very effective in keeping most insects at bay in your house? Spiders. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. Spiders in your house will keep almost all other bug infestations at bay, especially cockroaches, water bugs, etc. I've lived here over 25 years, never had the bug guy spray except for once when we first bought the place. And rarely have I ever been bit. It's the natural way.

I guess that's understandable in a machine shop. They can be pretty dangerous places, can't they?

↥twinkle ↧stinkle permalink

They have their inherent dangers - machinery fork-lifts slipery floors and such - but the most dangerous aspect was fatigue not being alert or thinking to well and ..................... someone does something stupid

I don't recall ever seeing OSHA show up at the workplace either, now that you mention it. They might have though, and I just missed it, especially during the roofing days. We didn't pay much attention to the 'suits' that would occasionally show up. They could have been OSHA, or they could have been the business owners.

↥twinkle ↧stinkle permalink

Back when I was working in the machine shop - I actually had one supervisor state that he had seen them - once - and that you never knew when they might stop by - I never did see them - not anywhere.

I know what you mean - I do believe that there actually was a time when OSHA was more then an urban legend. I have read actual material about them at places I've worked - but I never actually saw them do a work place audit.

I don't recall ever seeing OSHA show up at the workplace either, now that you mention it. They might have though, and I just missed it, especially during the roofing days. We didn't pay much attention to the 'suits' that would occasionally show up. They could have been OSHA, or they could have been the business owners.

Here is an insecticide paint article ( not Dupont ) there are a lot of articles on insecticide paint - interior and exterior - though I can't find one going back to Dupont - I may have been mistaken as to the originator - but I do remember the insecticide ( for interior use ) being mentioned during a paint commercial advertizing Dupont paint - it may have been a local store chain advertisement.

I had considered that. But look at all the people that have the bug man (er, 'person') come in periodically and spray that shit all along the baseboards, kitchen cabinets, basements and backyards. I fucking hate pesticides. You know what's very effective in keeping most insects at bay in your house? Spiders. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. Spiders in your house will keep almost all other bug infestations at bay, especially cockroaches, water bugs, etc. I've lived here over 25 years, never had the bug guy spray except for once when we first bought the place. And rarely have I ever been bit. It's the natural way.

↥twinkle ↧stinkle permalink

Yep - natural pest control. Also you can break an ant trail and discourage other bugs with other less lethal for all options - like an ammonia wash will disrupt an ants trail and other bugs do not like it either - so if you only wash your entryways and window frames - you reduce a lot of bug traffic.